Federal Reach, Academic Speech: The Legal Limits of Executive Authority in Higher Education | School of Law

Friday, September 19th, 2025
9:00 AM - 3:15 PM

Add to Calendar: Add to Calendar: 2025-09-19 09:00:00 2025-09-19 15:15:00 Federal Reach, Academic Speech: The Legal Limits of Executive Authority in Higher Education Event Description In the early stages of his second term as president, President Trump has released a flurry of executive orders to change the landscape of educational funding and content. In particular, President Trump has focused on eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and has made demands regarding matters typically left to faculty discretion, including curriculum content and faculty expression, to align with the government’s policies. These changes have been in response to criticisms of DEI programs as non-meritorious and the exercise of free speech in the form of protesting across campuses nationwide. President Trump’s executive orders call into question how much power the federal government holds over the operations and curriculum of universities and directly implicates the First Amendment rights of students, faculty, and universities. Given the ever-changing legal and political landscape of these issues, the boundaries of executive control over university autonomy and speech policies are more vital than ever. This symposium will explore the wide-sweeping impact of these policies on executive power, universities, DEI programs, and the First Amendment. To do so, this symposium will analyze the complexities of DEI programs and the freedom of curriculum within universities and reveal the how and why of where the future of higher education is headed. Agenda The agenda can be found in Google Drive. Reading Material Reading material can be found in Google Drive. CWRU School of Law Moot Courtroom School of Law School of Law America/New_York public

Free

To receive CLE credit, the cost is $100 for alumni and $200 for non-alumni. CLE registration will be made available during the event.

Event Description

In the early stages of his second term as president, President Trump has released a flurry of executive orders to change the landscape of educational funding and content. In particular, President Trump has focused on eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and has made demands regarding matters typically left to faculty discretion, including curriculum content and faculty expression, to align with the government’s policies. These changes have been in response to criticisms of DEI programs as non-meritorious and the exercise of free speech in the form of protesting across campuses nationwide. President Trump’s executive orders call into question how much power the federal government holds over the operations and curriculum of universities and directly implicates the First Amendment rights of students, faculty, and universities. Given the ever-changing legal and political landscape of these issues, the boundaries of executive control over university autonomy and speech policies are more vital than ever.

This symposium will explore the wide-sweeping impact of these policies on executive power, universities, DEI programs, and the First Amendment. To do so, this symposium will analyze the complexities of DEI programs and the freedom of curriculum within universities and reveal the how and why of where the future of higher education is headed.

Agenda

The agenda can be found in Google Drive.

Reading Material

Reading material can be found in Google Drive.

Event Location

CWRU School of Law Moot Courtroom