Robert Woodson delivered these remarks at the 2025-2026 series of the Levy Forum for Open Discourse. The Levy Forum is a speaker series hosted at the Palm Beach Synagogue, sponsored by ACTA board member Paul Levy and ACTA. The goal of these events is to promote the epistemic virtues that ACTA seeks to promote on university campuses across the country, such as curiosity, objectivity, and wisdom.
Robert Woodson is the founder and president of the Woodson Center and a longtime civil rights activist. He has advised government, business, and philanthropic leaders on issues of poverty and community development, directed the National Urban League’s Administration of Justice division, and served as a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He is a frequent media commentator, a best-selling author, and the recipient of numerous honors, including the MacArthur Fellowship, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and the Bradley Prize.
A MacArthur “Genius” Fellow and recipient of the John Bates Clark Medal, Professor Fryer received tenure at Harvard University at age 30. A professor of economics, he conducts meticulous research on education reform, social interactions, and police use of force. Jason Riley is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a columnist for the Wall Street Journal.
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