Glenn Loury to Keynote MIT Free Speech Alliance’s Inaugural Conference on Free Expression

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This Thursday, September 14, the MIT Free Speech Alliance will hold its Inaugural Conference on Free Expression and Academic Freedom in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The theme of the conference is "Building an Open Culture at MIT".

The conference's keynote speaker will be Glenn Loury, (MIT Ph.D ‘76). Dr. Loury is the Merton P. Stolz Professor of the Social Sciences and Professor of Economics at Brown University, and he has also taught at Boston, Harvard, and Northwestern Universities and at the University of Michigan. He has published widely in the areas of game theory, applied microeconomic theory, industrial organization, natural resource theory, and the theory of race and inequality. Through his books including The Anatomy of Racial Inequality and his widely popular newsletter and podcast, Loury has achieved considerable recognition as a public intellectual.

“With his roots at MIT and a career spent observing the trends shaping American discourse, we can hardly imagine a more fitting speaker than Glenn Loury to deliver the keynote at our inaugural conference,” said Wayne Stargardt’ 74, President of the MIT Free Speech Alliance.

The rest of the conference will consist of a series of sessions exploring how members of the MIT community, including students, alumni, faculty, and staff, can build up and sustain a campus culture supportive of free expression, reflecting on successes of the past year and opportunities for the coming year Sessions will include a discussion with members of the faculty Ad Hoc Working Group on Free Expression which authored the statement on free expression ultimately adopted by MIT.

John Tomasi, President of Heterodox Academy, will moderate a discussion of MIT faculty involved in a new civil discourse initiative launching at the Institute this year. Another panel will consist of MIT undergraduate and graduate students providing their own perspectives on the climate for free expression at MIT.

Additional sessions will place the movement for free expression at MIT in a broader context. Charles Davis ‘87, President of the Alumni Free Speech Alliance and past president of MFSA, will chair a panel featuring leaders from several AFSA organizations, including Princetonians for Free Speech, UNC Alumni for Free Speech, Cornell Free Speech Alliance, and Harvard Alumni for Free Speech. A separate session will feature leaders from the Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard, will talk about their work organizing faculty support for free expression at their institution.

“We’re delighted to have such a strong group of speakers bringing a variety of perspectives and experiences to our conference, and we thank them for their participation,” said Peter Bonilla, MFSA’s Executive Director. “We look forward to this conference becoming an annual tradition.”

Contact: Peter Bonilla, Executive Director, peter@mitfreespeech.org, 215-531-2171.

The MIT Free Speech Alliance (MFSA) has over 1,000 members. Founded by MIT alumni in October 2021 following the cancellation of Dorian Abbot’s Carlson Lecture. MFSA is a member of the Alumni Free Speech Alliance, together with sister organizations at Cornell, Harvard, and the University of Virginia, among other institutions. MFSA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and is independent of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.