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This event also is free of charge and will be presented at Duquesne University’s Power Center Ballroom on October 21-22. Speakers and panelists are nationally-known experts in journalism, politics, law, higher education and civic advocacy.

 

Save these dates! Look for an invitation to register in coming months.

 

Conference theme: opening a national dialogue focusing on the First Amendment as a foundational value that all Americans share and support regardless of political or ideological views.

 

Conference sessions: to be announced when registration opens.

 

Keynote speakers and panelists committed so far include:

 

• Floyd Abrams, one of the nation’s leading authorities on First Amendment law.

 

• Dean P. Baquet, executive editor, The New York Times.

 

• Martin Baron, executive editor, The Washington Post.
   

• Keith Burris, editorial page editor, The Toledo Blade.

 

• Alan Dershowitz, renowned lawyer and scholar, Harvard University (via Skype).

 

• Noel Francisco, U.S. Solicitor General.
   

• Michael Gerhardt, Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law, University of North Carolina School of Law.
   

• Nancy Gibbs, former editor of TIME magazine.

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• Richard Gingras, senior director of news and social products at Google and the overseer of Google News.

 

• Judge Thomas Hardimann, judge for the United States Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit.

 

• General Michael Hayden, retired 4-star general and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency.

 

• Hugh Hewitt, radio and television commentator (invited).

 

• John Kasich, Republican governor of Ohio (via video).

 

• Lata Nott, executive director, First Amendment Center.
   

• Dr. Shawn Peters, author and professor, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin v. Yoder, Amish children attending school.

 

• Tom Ridge, former Republican U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and Pennsylvania governor.

  

• Jeff Rosen, president and chief executive officer of the National Constitution Center.
   

• Robert Rosenthal, former editor,The Philadelphia Inquirer, former managing editor, The San Francisco Chronicle and executive director, Center for Investigative Reporting.

 

• David Shribman, executive editor, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
   

• Sree Sreenivasan, co-founder, digimentors.
   

• Teresa Sullivan, president emeritus, University of Virginia.
   

• Simon Tam, The Slants, Matal v. Tam, Lanham Act’s disparagement clause and the First Amendment.

 

• Mary Beth Tinker, plaintiff in the landmark Tinker v. Des Moines case upholding the right of high school students to wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam War.

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• Juan Williams, Fox News contributor.

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• Robert Zimmer, president, University of Chicago.

 

Please mark your calendars for the October 21-22 conference at Duquesne University. As a community leader, you understand that shining a light on the critical importance of the First Amendment is the best assurance of a strong, free and democratic society.

 

We look forward to seeing you.