OU will host a keynote discussion featuring New York Times bestselling author Greg Lukianoff Tuesday for Free Speech Week.
Lukianoff, president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression will deliver a keynote address titled “Free Speech and Cancel Culture” as part of OU’s Free Speech Week.
Free Speech Week is a non-partisan event held from Oct. 21-27. The annual event recognizes freedom of speech and press within the U.S. Constitution through programming.
“Freedom of speech is absolutely essential to the production of accurate knowledge. Without freedom of speech, dogma, groupthink, & conformity win,” Lukianoff wrote in a post on social media platform X.
His keynote address comes nearly a year after Gov. Kevin Stitt signed executive order 2023-31 to formally review diversity, equity and inclusion programs on higher education in December.
In March, OU renamed the DEI office to the Division of Access and Opportunity in compliance with the executive order.
Lukianoff is the author of “Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate,” “Freedom From Speech” and “FIRE’s Guide to Free Speech on Campus.”
Greg Lukianoff will present the keynote address for OU’s Free Speech Week.
Lukianoff co-authored “The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust and Threatens Us All―But There Is a Solution,” with Rikki Schlott. The book presents stories about cancel culture and its potential dangers to Americans.
Lukianoff was an executive producer of “Can We Take a Joke?,” a 2015 documentary exploring the relationships between comedy, censorship and outrage culture, both on and off campus. He also executive produced the 2020 award-winning film “Mighty Ira: A Civil Liberties Story,” about Ira Glasser, a former American Civil Liberties Union executive director.
Lukianoff’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe and other publications. He frequently appears on TV shows and radio programs, including CBS Evening News, The Today Show and NPR’s Morning Edition.
Lukianoff became the first-ever recipient of the Playboy Foundation’s Freedom of Expression Award in 2008, donating the $25,000 award’s entirety to FIRE.
“There is no better way to spend your charitable dollar if you wish to see basic rights preserved on America’s campuses,” Lukianoff said in an announcement. “While I deeply appreciate the Playboy Foundation’s recognition of my work, none of this would be possible if it was not for the extraordinary leadership and brilliant model given to us by our founders.”
Lukianoff has also testified before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives about free speech issues on college campuses.
The keynote address will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Associate’s Room in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. Limited seating is available by reservation for OU students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the public.
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure, Ismael Lele and Ana Barboza. Natalie Armour and Avery Avery copy edited this story.
Madeline Hoffmann is an OU Daily culture reporter and aims to tell creative stories that better familiarize herself and others with the community. Stories are an important commodity that have the power to enrich lives and resonate with readers through journalistic curiosity, which Madeline hopes to further through her work. Madeline is from Flower Mound, Texas, and can be contacted at madeline.g.hoffmann-1@ou.edu.