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Institute speakers featured on MPR’s Friday Roundtable

Danielle Allen of Harvard University and Peter Berkowitz of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University discuss academic freedom at St. Olaf
Danielle Allen of Harvard University (left) and Peter Berkowitz of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University discuss academic freedom at St. Olaf during an October 25 event hosted by the Institute for Freedom and Community.

The St. Olaf College Institute for Freedom and Community recently welcomed Danielle Allen, a government professor at Harvard University, and Peter Berkowitz, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, to campus for a thought-provoking dialogue on academic freedom moderated by St. Olaf Professor of Religion and Philosophy Edmund Santurri, the Morrison Family Director of the Institute for Freedom and Community.

During their visit, they also took time to sit down with Minnesota Public Radio’s Kerri Miller for a Friday Roundtable discussion about the First Amendment on college campuses.

Miller began the hourlong interview with these questions: “Are college campuses still committed to a core principle of American identity: the freedom of speech? And how well do students and faculty understand what that means?”

Daniell Allen and Peter Berkowitz at a Minnesota Public Radio interview
Daniell Allen (left) and Peter Berkowitz (center) during their Roundtable interview with Minnesota Public Radio’s Kerri Miller (right).

Allen and Berkowitz discussed everything from their personal experiences with free-speech backlash to whether campuses across the nation support free speech both in principle and in practice.

Their visit to St. Olaf was part of the Institute for Freedom and Community’s fall series, Academic Freedom: Its Meanings and Limits.

Established at St. Olaf in 2014, the Institute for Freedom and Community encourages free inquiry and meaningful debate, and offers a distinctive opportunity to cultivate civil discourse within the context of a liberal arts setting.