Back on Monday, June 2nd, UC Academic Affairs organized an all-day "UC Systemwide Academic Freedom Congress." Viewers could register and watch the Zoom sessions live. At least six of the seven sessions were recorded on Zoom. (More on the missing one below.) Since Monday is a workday, and since the congress was held during work hours, obviously many could not attend and so would not have registered.
Given recent political events (which presumably were a major impetus to organize the congress), a reasonable assumption at the time would have been that recordings of a congress dealing with matters of free speech, academic freedom, and the like, would be made readily available.
And indeed, those who registered subsequently received an email at the email address from which they registered saying recordings were available by clicking to obtain a code which would be sent to that email address. Using the code would allow access. Yours truly - who had registered originally - followed the directions, obtained the code, and was taken to a webpage from which recordings of six of the seven sessions were available to watch - but not download. The notice indicated that the recording would be available through this process until December 31, 2025 when, presumably, they would vanish.
Note that those who didn't register originally, perhaps because of work or other obligations or conflicts, would not have received the subsequent email with the code, etc. As noted above, this kind of limitation seems inappropriate for a congress on academic freedom.
Was there anything highly sensitive about the sessions? You can find the agenda and speakers below. Sessions 1 and 2 were basically informational. Session 3 on DEI had differing opinions but none you haven't heard before or which would not be expected from the speakers chosen to participate. Session 4 on Title VI was a mix of information and differing opinions. But everyone was polite and civil. Again, no shockers. Session 5 on tenure was largely informational.
Session 6 on campus protests might have been controversial. But no recording is available for that one. Did someone say something that might offend someone? Note that it was a concurrent session so even some of those who tuned in to the general congress might not have seen it since they might have been watching an alternative at the same time. Why is there no recording of the mysterious sixth session? Enquiring minds want to know!
Session 7, a wrap-up roundtable - had some differing opinions, but again, if you knew something about the speakers, you would not have heard anything shocking.
So what to do? Well, yours truly could have used a complicated and time-consuming workaround to produce video copies. Or maybe he could have filed a public records request for the recordings. But since the congress was all talking heads, i.e., no slides, the fast-and-dirty approach was to make audio recordings. So that is what he did except, of course, for the missing session.
Below is a summary agenda for the congress. And below that is a link to a website with the six audio recordings - not high fidelity but good enough - and a more complete agenda with biographical information on the participants.
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Agenda: UC Systemwide Academic Freedom Congress, June 2, 2025
Organized by UC Academic Affairs
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1-Welcome Remarks & Keynote: 9:00 - 10:15 AM
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Katherine Newman
Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, University of California
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Danielle Allen
Professor & Director, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation & Director, Democratic Knowledge Project, Harvard University
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Sean Gailmard
Herman Royer Professor of Political Economy, UC Berkeley, and Chair of the University Senate’s Committee on Academic Freedom
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2-Basic principles and the approach to academic freedom and free speech on campus: 10:30 - 11:45 AM
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This panel explores the fundamental principles of academic freedom and free speech, examining their origins, legal frameworks, and practical applications in higher education. Panelists will discuss the roles and responsibilities of faculty, students, and institutions in fostering environments where diverse ideas can be expressed, debated, and respectfully challenged.
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Erwin Chermerinsky
Dean, Berkeley Law
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Sigal Ben-Porath
MRMJJ Presidential Professor, University of Pennsylvania
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Robert Quinn
Executive Director, Scholars at Risk
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Emerson Sykes
Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project
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Michelle Deutchman
Executive Director, UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement
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3-DEI and academic freedom (Concurrent Sessions): 12:30 - 1:45 PM
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This session examines the dynamics between diversity, equity and inclusion-related programs and services DEI initiatives and academic freedom. Panelists discuss current controversies, the implications of federal and state legislative actions, and how universities can uphold their commitments to diversity, inclusion, both DEI and academic freedom.
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john a. powell (He does not use capital letters in his name)
Professor of Law and Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute, Berkeley Law
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Brian Soucek
Professor of Law and Chancellor’s Fellow, UC Davis School of Law
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Peter W. Wood
President, National Association of Scholars
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Natasha Warikoo
Lenore Stern Professor in the Social Sciences, Department of Sociology, Tufts University
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4-Title VI and academic freedom and free speech (Concurrent Sessions): 12:30 - 1:45 PM
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This session provides an overview of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs receiving federal funding, and how it intersects with the principles of academic freedom.
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Robert Corn-Revere
Chief Counsel, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)
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Veena Dubal
Professor of Law, UC Irvine, and General Counsel for American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
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Eugene Volokh
Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, and Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA
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Mary-Rose Papandrea
Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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5-Tenure and academic freedom (Concurrent Session): 2:00 - 3:15 PM
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This panel explores the evolution of tenure and academic freedom. Panelists will examine whether traditional tenure still protects academic freedom, the role of contingent faculty, and the effects of external political pressures on the tenure review process.
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David Rabban
Jamail Regents Chair in Law and Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Texas, Austin
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Henry Reichman
Former Chair, AAUP Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure, and Professor Emeritus of History, CSU East Bay
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Hollis Robbins
Professor of English and Special Advisor for Humanities Diplomacy, University of Utah
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Margaret Roberts
Professor of Political Science, UC San Diego and Member of the University Senate’s Committee on Academic Freedom
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6-Academic freedom, protests, and democratic governance on campus (Concurrent Session): 2:00 - 3:15 PM
Note: As reported above, no recording is available for the concurrent 2 PM session on "Academic freedom, protests, and democratic governance on campus." The participants are listed below:
Josiah Behary is a Ph.D. student in Interdisciplinary Humanities at UC Merced and first UC Merced and undocumented UC Student Regent.
Rana M. Jaleel is an Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Davis.
Risa Lieberwitz is a Professor of Labor and Employment Law in the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR.
Keith E. Whittington is the David Boies Professor of Law at Yale Law School and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is the faculty director of the Center for Academic Freedom and Free Speech at Yale University.
Chris Jay Hoofnagle is Professor of Law in Residence at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, and founding member of the Berkeley Initiative for Free Inquiry.
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7-Roundtable: External intervention in the university and institutional neutrality & Closing Remarks: 3:30 - 5:00 PM
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Sean Gailmard
Herman Royer Professor of Political Economy, UC Berkeley, and Chair of the University Senate’s Committee on Academic Freedom
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Howard Gillman
Chancellor, UC Irvine
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Barry O'Neill
Professor of Political Science, UCLA, and Vice Chair of the University Senate’s Committee on Academic Freedom
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Judith Butler
Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School, UC Berkeley
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Katherine Newman (closing remarks)
Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, University of California
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Audio recordings of each session except the missing #6 (the missing link!) are at the link below and will not disappear on December 31, 2025:
https://archive.org/details/academic-freedom.
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