The 2018 conference will bring together roughly sixty faculty members from a range of disciplines and institutions, with a variety of viewpoints, to present research and discuss issues related to academic freedom and freedom of expression on campus. The conference also includes programming focusing on faculty activism and offering practical guidance for faculty looking to become more active on their campuses. The conference will take place in mid-October at Loyola University in Chicago.
Grabowski, who is a professor at Adelphi University, conducts research and teaches courses focusing on free speech and the First Amendment. He also frequently addresses higher education's free speech and viewpoint diversity crisis in his column and presentations.
Founded in 1999, FIRE’s mission is to defend and sustain the individual rights of students and faculty members at America’s colleges and universities. These rights include freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience—the essential qualities of liberty. FIRE educates students, faculty, alumni, trustees, and the public about the threats to these rights on our campuses, and provides the means to preserve them.