Legal scholar to lead MWSU convocation

Jul. 26—Professor Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University attorney and educator who also works as a Fox News analyst, is set to headline Missouri Western's annual R. Dan Boulware Convocation on Critical Issues.

Turley, renowned for his work in academia and public advocacy, as well as a yearslong record of testimony before the U.S. Congress, will speak at 10 a.m. Sept. 27 in the Looney Complex Arena.

The speech is free and open to the public, with a ticketed luncheon to follow at a cost of $50 per person. Turley is the latest in a line of nationally renowned speakers including the late Cokie Roberts, Martin Luther King III, Chris Wallace, Jon Meacham and most recently Arthur C. Brooks. Turley will cover the debate on First Amendment values, in an address titled "The Rise and Fall of Free Speech."

Turley, perhaps best known for his testimony on the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump in winter 2019-20, writes extensively today on what he calls a climate of censorship in higher education.

"Today, a palpable level of fear and intimidation exists among many faculty members that they could be the next target of one of these campaigns," Turley wrote on July 19 in a case study involving the University of California-Los Angeles. "Most professors are not protected by tenure, and universities can cite other reasons for not renewing their contracts ... The problem is that this contingency often seems to depend upon an adherence to a new orthodoxy on racial justice, police abuse, gender identification and other issues."

MWSU Vice President of Advancement Marc Archambault, who serves as executive director of the University Foundation, said Monday that Turley's advocacy on free speech is valuable.

"Free speech is an important part of any university setting," Archambault said. "It's a place where people come to learn, discover new things, communicate together. It's also important, I think, we see how diverse efforts to rein in free speech can be. So it's exciting to have someone like Mr. Turley come, who is able to speak to the power of free speech, how it can connect rather than divide."

Archambault said the address will advance Missouri Western's core mission. The university advocates for "applied learning," or practical knowledge useful in the real world.

"What could be more 'applied' than free speech? What could be more applied than taking what's learned in the classroom — in terms of political science, discourse in the community, any field at Missouri Western? I think that always makes for a better citizen," he said. "It makes for a better workforce, and a better community."

Marcus Clem can be reached at marcus.clem@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowClem