The symposium was the brainchild of Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Kendal Washington White.

FIRE reports.

New University of Arizona Symposium Focuses on First Amendment Issues in Higher Ed

Free speech on campus was the topic of the day Wednesday at the University of Arizona’s (UA’s) inaugural Constitutional Issues in Higher Education Symposium.

Erwin Chemerinsky, the constitutional law scholar and founding dean of University of California, Irvine School of Law, delivered the keynote address at the day-long event dedicated to exploring “the numerous intersections and tensions that exist in a University community.” The event, which was open to students, faculty, and the public, included breakout sessions on student activism and student press. One panel, “Classroom Environments as a Battleground,” delved into issues surrounding “safe spaces,” “trigger warnings,” and “microaggressions.”

“It was an amazing event,” said the student activism panel moderator Celeste González de Bustamante, an associate professor in UA’s School of Journalism and an affiliated faculty member of the UA Center for Latin American Studies.