About

Purpose

The University of Pennsylvania Alumni Free Speech Alliance was founded in Winter 2024 to promote, model, and practice free speech principles at the University of Pennsylvania.

Our Strategy

Front-Facing

Penn AFSA seeks to engage all Penn stakeholders in free speech principles. To that end, we want to educate, inspire, and model free speech through a variety of activities:

  • Hosting Events

  • Supporting Campus Events on Free Speech

  • Showcasing Penn Stakeholder Commentary on Free Speech

  • Drawing Attention to Free Speech Issues at Penn

  • And more

Back of House

We also know that change at Penn will require engagement with key individuals in leadership roles at Penn. To that end, we are actively building relationships with those individuals to have conversations and provide support for bringing about change. This includes members of the Board of Trustees, administrators, faculty, student leaders, and more.

Key Initiatives

(that we believe will drive change)

  • Next Penn President

    We advocate and will do what we can to help the selection committee for the next President of the University of Pennsylvania to be someone who is committed to freedom of speech and academic thought, not just for one group, but for all groups, including those they may personally disagree with.

  • Penn Commitment to Free Speech Principles

    We call upon the leadership of the University of Pennsylvania to adopt a public commitment to free speech. This could be along the lines of the Chicago Statement or Penn Forward. We are happy to work with Penn leadership on the language and structure, so long as it is substantive and public.

Note: These initiatives are not everything that Penn AFSA is committed to. In general, we intend to organize events, engage in constructive dialogue with Penn leadership about appropriate changes across a range of issues, provide support and resources for Penn stakeholders, and be a voice for Penn alumni. The initiatives listed above are what we have determined to be the most valuable things we can focus our efforts on in order to have the greatest positive impact at Penn.