Matters of freedom of expression and higher education’s federal responsibilities were at the forefront of the University of California’s Sixth Annual #SpeechMatters Conference. 
Catherine Lhamon
The virtual half-day conference, held April 18, brought together panelists from across higher ed – including federal officials, faculty, staff, university deans, and students – to speak about the state of free speech on American college campuses, particularly amid ongoing tensions regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict and the 2024 elections.
“Across the country, we are confronted with the challenges of extreme polarization, perhaps no more intensely than on our college campuses,” said UC President Dr. Michael Drake. “Places that ideally offer space for exchanging ideas and stretching perspectives, institutions of higher education are increasingly charged environments.”
Hamas’s attack on Israel last October is one of the latest assaults in a bloody decades-long geopolitical dispute. Tensions surrounding this most recent conflict – which has resulted in thousands of deaths, mostly of those in Palestine – have flared student protests and hostility at colleges.
Last December, Congress questioned the presidents of several high-profile universities about potential antisemitism on their campuses. As recently as April 17, Congress called on Columbia University President Dr. Nemat Shafik to answer about reports of antisemitism and harassment of pro-Palestinian students.
Universities have a federal civil rights obligation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to take action if they know or should have known about the presence of hostile environments on their campuses, including those against Jewish and Palestinian students, Catherine Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education (ED), said in a recorded message during the conference.
There has been a “proliferation of hate” in campus communities in recent months, she said.
