NDSU's Sheila and Robert Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth is set to host a virtual discussion titled “Free Speech on Campuses and Our Road Back to Good Conversation.” The event is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 3 p.m. on Zoom.

Scott Beaulier, Ronald and Kaye Olson Dean of Business, will host a virtual conversation with Emily Chamlee-Wright, CEO and president of the Institute for Humane Studies. They will discuss how cancel culture, intolerance and, in some cases, violence are eroding the foundational norms of civility and tolerance on college campuses.

The event is free and open to the public, though attendees must register on Zoom.

“We are thrilled to be hosting Emily Chamlee-Wright for a virtual visit in our Menard Speaker Series at NDSU. Dr. Chamlee-Wright offers a vision for a more open and tolerant academy, and her ideas about how to encourage better conversations in the academy draw on basic design principles that will help anyone have better conversations on a daily basis," said Beaulier.

Chamlee-Wright is an economist who explores the complex topic of free speech policy and governance in higher education. She leads the Institute for Humane Studies, a nonprofit organization that supports and partners with scholars in the classical liberal tradition to advance intellectual discovery and human progress. Chamlee-Wright has written six books in the areas of liberal education, post-disaster recovery and economic development.

The discussion is part of the Menard Family Distinguished Speaker Series, which invites world thought leaders to share their ideas with the NDSU community on big questions that explore ways to improve the human condition and create economic opportunity.

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