The following article summarizes the original event which is listed below the summary.
An overt attack on academic freedom
Academic freedom and freedom of speech are being challenged by the current federal administration in ways that are upending norms and directly affecting institutions of higher education across the country.
Jane Kirtley, JD, Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota and the guest speaker for UMRA’s November forum, focused her remarks on the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, a proposal the Trump Administration sent to nine universities on October 1 as a way to achieve alignment with his administration’s views, in exchange for preferred access to federal funding.
The offer was extended to all colleges and universities on October 13. Many schools have already declined the offer while others are considering acceptance. On October 23, the University of Minnesota Senate approved a resolution (123 to 18) encouraging the University president not to engage in negotiations regarding the Compact.
Kirtley characterized the Compact as “one of the most overt attacks” on academic freedom coming from the Trump Administration. “This is not a toothless tiger. As far as the First Amendment, specifically, is concerned, restricting campus speech, enforcing institutional neutrality, promotion of views that the government favors and censoring others, violate the Constitution. And the idea of compelled disclosure of faculty viewpoints, it's like we’re suddenly transformed back to the Red Scare of the 1950s.”
During her remarks, Kirtley responded to an email sent to her in advance by an UMRA member who asked her to comment on an article by Peter T. Wood, president of the National Association of Scholars, published in late October: “Why Universities Should Welcome (and Sign) Trump’s Compact.”
Forum attendees were quite attentive and posed several important questions: Are there any plans for universities to work together to rebut these “offers”? What about attacks on DEI? Press freedom? How will the U of M respond to the Compact? You can hear Kirtley’s presentation and her responses to all the questions by clicking on the link to the event recording (below). And if you would like to contact her directly to continue the conversation, you are welcome to email Professor Kirtley.
—Eric Hockert, UMRA Program Committee
A fight between courage and capitulation
Tue, November 18, 2025, at 11am
Jane Kirtley
Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law
Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Midland Hills Country Club
2001 Fulham Street
Roseville, MN 55113
Jane Kirtley, JD, will be the guest speaker for UMRA’s luncheon forum on November 18. She is the Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law, and an affiliated faculty member at the U of M Law School.
“A fight between courage and capitulation: the challenges to preserving academic freedom and independent speech during the Trump Administration” will be the subject of her presentation.
In just a few short months, President Donald Trump has upended norms protecting the freedoms of speech and press from government interference. His administration has sued or otherwise targeted law firms, the news media, and universities, and has defied protections recognized under the Constitution. How should institutions respond to these unprecedented attacks on their independence, while still serving the public interest?
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
U.S. Constitution, Amendment I
Kirtley is a First Amendment scholar and advocate, and speaks frequently on media law and ethics issues in the United States and abroad. She was a Fulbright Scholar teaching U.S. media law and media ethics at the University of Latvia’s Law Faculty in Riga in the spring of 2016, and has received multiple speaker and specialist grants from the U.S. State Department, most recently to Brazil in 2019. Her Media Law Handbook was published by the State Department and has been translated into nine languages.
Before joining the University faculty in 1999, Kirtley was executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press for 14 years. Prior to that, she worked as an attorney in Rochester, N.Y., and Washington, and as a newspaper reporter in Indiana, Tennessee, and Washington.
Kirtley received her JD from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1979, and holds bachelor and master of journalism degrees from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Go to the UMRA Member Portal to register and prepay for this November 18 luncheon forum at Midland Hills Country Club in Roseville. Reservations, payment, and cancellations (with refunds) are due November 8.
Cancellations can be done in your online profile at umra.wildapricot.org > My Profile > My event registrations. Or, send questions on registration/cancellations to the reservationist. Please let us know if your plans change and you are unable to attend.
For more information about making registrations through the UMRA portal, go to umra.umn.edu > Programs & Events > Event Reservations.
Please register and join us at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, November 18, for this timely and important presentation.
—Eric Hockert, UMRA Program Committee
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