Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.
Program is Part of the Dialogues Across Differences Project
Open Inquiry and the Collegiate Mission
Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill, Director of the Campus Free Expression Project, Council of Independent Colleges
Free expression, open inquiry, and civil discourse are threatened values in our country. Higher education institutions have an essential role in addressing this crisis and raising the bar for public discourse—but many colleges have themselves struggled to uphold these values at this time of polarization and disagreement over national and international events. A national expert on college speech and academic freedom, Dr. Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill will share her observations from campuses across the country—and how these concerns relate to Dickinson College founder Benjamin Rush’s vision for higher education in uniting a divided democracy.
This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and is part of the Dialogues Across Differences Project, which is funded by a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. This program is part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.
Topic overview written by Supasinee Siripun ’27
Biography (provided by the speaker)
Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill is director of the Campus Free Expression Project, a project she launched at the Bipartisan Policy Center and brought to the Council of Independent Colleges in 2024. Earlier in her career, she was on the faculties of College of William & Mary (VA) and St. John’s College (MD). She has also taught at the University of Calgary (Canada), Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (Germany), and in the college program at Maryland’s only prison for women. Pfeffer Merrill serves as a trustee of the Association for Core Texts and Courses and is a member of the Virginia 250 Education Steering Committee. She earned a BA at the University of Calgary and an MA and PhD from Duke University.
Related Links
Campus Free Expression Project