Scholars Convene for Inaugural Free Speech Conference Reflecting on Woodward Report

Scholars from across the country convened at Yale Law School on Feb. 14 for a lively conversation about academic freedom and free speech, marking the 50th anniversary of Yale’s Woodward Report on freedom of expression. It was also the inaugural event for the Law School’s Center for Academic Freedom and Free Speech (CAFFS).

CAFFS, which launched at the start of the 2024–2025 academic year, aims to become a leading hub for academic freedom and free speech and safeguard these values for future generations. The conference, “Revisiting the Woodward Report: Free Expression on College Campuses,” reflected on the goals and legacy of the report as well as the critical importance of free speech on university campuses.

Adopted in 1975, the Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression at Yale — commonly known as the Woodward Report — set the standard for Yale’s policies promoting the exercise of free expression and a culture of civil discourse throughout the university community.

To open the conference, Dean Heather K. Gerken spoke about the deep expertise of David Boies Professor of Law Keith E. Whittington, who directs the center, and outlined why the ability to think freely and question everything are central principles for the academy and the legal profession.

Read Dean Gerken’s Remarks

“Keith is one of the country’s foremost experts on free speech and academic freedom,” Gerken said. “He’s an astonishingly productive scholar who nonetheless finds time to play a leading role in the ever-changing conversation on these issues.”

“Free speech and academic freedom are the touchstones of any academic institution, the twin guarantees of a robust scholarly life,” Gerken added. “They create space for disagreement and dissent — the intellectual oxygen that fuels cutting-edge research, heterodox ideas, and rigorous creativity.”

Free speech and academic freedom are the touchstones of any academic institution, the twin guarantees of a robust scholarly life.”
—Dean Heather K. Gerken

Gerken noted that free speech and academic freedom are “built into the bones of this institution, because this is the work of decades, not moments,” and spoke about the structural work Yale Law School has instituted during her deanship to bolster these commitments. This includes launching the Rosenkranz Originalism Conference and the Free Exercise Clinic in 2019; establishing the Doyle-Winter visiting professorship in 2022 to bring in scholars from a wide range of perspectives for semester-long visits; and announcing the Ronnie F. Heyman ’72 Crossing Divides Program in 2023. The latter program is designed to foster discourse across the political and ideological spectrum and reinforce the core values of lawyering. 

“There is no more important time to affirm our commitment to the values underlying the Woodward Report and Keith’s new center. Every single year that I’ve been dean, I have told my students that letting others speak freely is the bare minimum we require of them. We expect them to learn, which means they must listen, engage, and treat those with whom they disagree as people of good faith. I tell my students that the hard work of lawyering — like the hard work of scholarship — requires humility and a relentless willingness to question everything, especially their own views,” said Gerken.

Yale University President Maurie McInnis also spoke at the conference, reflecting on the Woodward Report’s enduring legacy at Yale. 

“Free expression is a part of this institution’s DNA … This is an environment where the best education is possible, because we allow people to explore their ideas openly, which gives them the freedom to be okay with being wrong, so they can grow,” McInnis said. “The research and teaching taking place at the Law School — and many other parts of campus — demonstrate that Yale isn’t merely marking a landmark anniversary for the Woodward Report but recommitting ourselves anew to its core values.” 

The research and teaching taking place at the Law School — and many other parts of campus — demonstrate that Yale isn’t merely marking a landmark anniversary for the Woodward Report but recommitting ourselves anew to its core values.” 
—Yale University President Maurie McInnis

In his introductory remarks, Whittington said that he was grateful to Dean Gerken and the Law School for its enthusiasm and support in establishing CAFFS. He noted that the Woodward Report’s 50th anniversary presented a “useful and important opportunity to … talk through free expression on campus as well as the report’s particular legacy here at Yale.”

“I’m delighted that we were able to bring together leading scholars to share their perspectives on the production of the Woodward Report and its legacy at Yale and to explore the broader issues and themes raised by the Woodward Report relating to free expression on college campuses,” said Whittington. “The challenges of protest, disruptions, and disinvitation and the proper place on college campuses for debating controversial social and political ideas remain pressing ones, and I’m grateful for the conference participants helping us think through these issues.”

Whittington’s teaching and scholarship span American constitutional theory, American political and constitutional history, judicial politics, the presidency, and free speech and the law. He is the author of “You Can't Teach That! The Battle Over University Classrooms” (2024), “Repugnant Laws: Judicial Review of Acts of Congress from the Founding to the Present” (2019), and “Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech” (2018), as well as “Constitutional Interpretation” (1999), “Political Foundations of Judicial Supremacy” (2007), and other works on constitutional theory and law and politics.

The first panel of the afternoon, “Reflections on the Woodward Report at Yale,” featured James C. Cobb, professor emeritus at the University of Georgia, and Kenneth Barnes, an attorney and member of the original Committee on Freedom of Expression at Yale. Yale Law School faculty Robert C. Post ’77 and Kate Stith, director of the Free Exercise Clinic at the Law School, also joined the panel.

A second panel offered perspectives on the topic “The Woodward Report and Campus Free Expression” from Harvard Law School professor Randall L. Kennedy ’82, University of Pennsylvania professor Sigal Ben-Porath, University of Richmond President Emeritus Ronald A. Crutcher, and history professor Amna Khalid of Carleton College. 

To close out the event, Judge James C. Ho of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit offered concluding remarks on the need for civility and professionalism in public life and in lawyering. Judge Ho thanked President McInnis, Dean Gerken, and Professor Whittington for holding the conference and creating a forum to talk about these important issues.

“We’re bound to disagree on virtually every issue. And that’s ok — in fact, I would submit that’s precisely what makes America so successful. We’re successful not because we’re all the same, but because we’re all so different — different backgrounds, different cultures, different experiences, and viewpoints — yet we come together as one nation,” said Ho. “Yes, we have different views and many different voices, but we find a way to harness this diversity to get the best out of everyone. We respect each other, and we respect the fact that the best ideas will emerge when we engage in robust and fearless debate, and we’re not afraid to compete in any form, including, or especially, the marketplace of ideas.”

The inaugural conference was co-sponsored by the Office of the President at Yale University and the Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life. CAFFS plans to host workshops and public events at the Law School featuring scholars, university leaders, advocates, and policymakers. The center is generously supported by the Stanton Foundation. Future CAFFS events will be listed on the program’s website.