Piya Bose, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at UC San Diego, was part of the UCSD team that weathered an encampment, the cancellation of the school’s annual Sun God Festival, and the occupation of a campus Starbucks last academic year. She joins SpeechMatters to discuss lessons learned, how to apply them in the new year and remind us of the transformative power of a college or university education.

Episode Resources:

• Voter Engagement Resource Page: https://freespeechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu/programs-and-resources/resource-materials-voter-engagement/ 

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court closed out its blockbuster term with expression-related decisions that affect the national regulatory and higher education landscape. Leading constitutional scholar and UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky joins SpeechMatters to share both his insights on this Supreme Court term and his reflections on the tumultuous past year on campus.

Episode Resources

• NY Times Opinion: "The First Amendment is Out of Control" by Tim Wu
• ACLU: "Why is the ACLU Representing the NRA Before the US Supreme Court" by Anthony D. Romero
• Freedom Forum: First Amendment Supreme Court Cases: 2023-2024 Term

Last season, as generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots dominated the national headlines, we explored the impact of new technologies on teaching, research and learning at colleges and universities. This year, we return to the topic of AI, with a focus on how the technology is affecting our election and information systems. Jonathan Mehta Stein, executive director of California Common Cause, joins us to discuss election protection, including the California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED), Common Cause’s newest effort to fight technology based-threats to democracy.

Episode Resources:

• CITED – California Initiative for Technology and Democracy
• CITED Report: Democracy on Edge in the Digital Age
• CA Common Cause – Three Bills Addressing Dangers of AI to Elections Pass Assembly Floor
• LA Times “Opinion: AI is turbocharging disinformation attacks on voters, especially in communities of color”
• Washington Post “In Arizona, election workers trained with deepfakes to prepare for 2024” 
• Center on Technology Policy at UNC Chapel Hill Report: The new political ad machine: Policy frameworks for political ads in an age of AI

The anti-Gaza war protests and encampments that have taken place at universities across the country have drawn the attention of everyone from the President to the media and members of Congress, provoking comparisons with the student movements of the 1960s. Robert Cohen, the foremost expert on UC Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement (1964) and its famed orator Mario Savio, joins us to discuss what we can learn from the past and the present in order to be prepared for what lies ahead. 

Episode Resources:

• LA Times “Opinion: Today’s protests are tamer than the campus unrest of the 1960s. So why the harsh response?”
• 94.2 KPFA “A History of Student Movements”

Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE), discusses the wide and deep impacts that ongoing legislative attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, officers and trainings have on higher education.

Episode Resources:

• Chronicle of Higher Ed DEI Legislation Tracker
• NADOHE Legislation Resources
• NADOHE Communication Guide
• "DEI Isn't Scary; Political Purges Are by Ryan A. Miller

Jim Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association (AHA) joins the podcast to discuss how “divisive concepts” legislation creates challenges for the teaching and learning of history that compromise democratic values and institutions. Throughout the conversation, Grossman points to the vital role that facts, critical thinking and source credibility play in maintaining an informed and engaged public. 

Episode Resources:

• https://time.com/6917632/history-wars-teacher-survey/   
• https://www.historians.org/divisive-concepts-statement  
• https://www.historians.org/news-and-advocacy/teaching-history-with-integrity/freedom-to-learn
• https://www.chronicle.com/article/here-are-the-states-where-lawmakers-are-seeking-to-ban-colleges-dei-efforts
• https://www.historians.org/research-and-publications/perspectives-on-history/march-2023/the-integrity-of-history-education-bills-censoring-k%E2%80%9312-classrooms-censor-higher-education-as-well
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdcoBQy41zI 
• https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/02/opinion/the-new-history-wars.html

What is the state of youth voting among college students as we barrel toward the November presidential election? Today’s guests, Jennifer Domagal-Goldman from ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, and UC Berkeley undergraduate student, Alex Edgar, discuss successful strategies to increase youth participation in local, state and federal elections in 2024. Listen in for tangible tips on actions you can take now to engage the young people in your life and on your campus.

Episode Resources:

Every single person in a college community can help support nonpartisan democratic engagement on their campus by:

• Visiting www.allintovote.org and check or update your registration and then take our Pledge to Vote - and then ask three friends or family members to do the same. 
• Asking your president or chancellor to join more than 625 of their peers in signing our Presidents’ Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation. It sends a strong signal to the campus that nonpartisan voter engagement matters.
• Working with your athletic department to encourage all athletic administrators and coaches to sign the 2024 Coaches Pledge.
• Recognizing a student who’s doing extraordinary work on your campus with the ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll. 
• Submitting a nonpartisan campus democratic engagement action plan by May 31, 2024.
• Learn more about the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition: https://slsvcoalition.org/  
• Check out the latest U.S. Department of Education Toolkit for the Promotion of Voter Participation for Students: https://allin.vote/USEd-Toolkit   

Restorative justice – traditionally used as a way to respond to criminal acts – is now being used on college and university campuses to foster community, improve relationships and respond to harm. Leading the way is the Office of Restorative Justice Practices at UC San Francisco directed by this month's guest, Dr. Maria Jaochico. Dr. Jaochico grounds us in restorative justice approaches that can be utilized when community values compete with protected speech. 

Episode Resources:

• Restorative Justice Practices at UCSF (UCSF)
• RJ101 For workplaces and organizations (UC Berkeley)
• National Education Association Restorative Practices (NEA)
• "Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice" by Fania E. Davis

People do not seem to agree on much right now; however, there does seem to be consensus that this is a challenging and painful time on college campuses. This month’s guests, Dr. Katya Armistead, assistant vice chancellor and dean of students for UC Santa Barbara and Dr. Genie Kim, director of student mental health and wellbeing at the UC Office of the President, discuss the hard work of providing support to the campus community when ugly speech rears its head.

Episode Resources

• "How two Dartmouth professors are addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" (NPR)
• Student mental health & well-being (UC Office of the President)
• Message to students on "Campus Climate and Civility" from Margaret Klawunn, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and guest Katya Armistead at UC Santa Barbara

Join the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) director of the Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, Ben Wizner, for a conversation about former President Trump’s use of the First Amendment as a legal defense, whether his speech on January 6th meets the Supreme Court’s test for incitement and how AI might impact the democratic process.

Episode Resources:

• "Opinion: We’ve defended Trump’s 1st Amendment rights. But his latest claims about the Jan. 6 indictment are nonsense” by David Cole and Ben Wizner: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-08-12/opinion-is-trump-right-to-claim-free-speech-as-a-defense  
• Just Security Trump Trials Clearinghouse: https://www.justsecurity.org/88175/trump-trials-clearinghouse
• DOJ 2020 Election Interference Indictment:  https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Just-Security-Jan.-6-D.C.-Trump-Clearinghouse-%E2%80%94-Federal-Indictment-of-Donald-Trump-August-1-2023.pdf 
• Georgia 2020 Election Interference Indictment: https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/just-security-fulton-county-da-indictment.pdf