ACTA’s Hero of Intellectual Freedom award was presented to Pano Kanelos, Founding President of the University of Austin. Dr. Kanelos served as the inaugural president of UATX from 2021 to 2024 and then as chancellor until Fall 2025. Under his leadership, UATX devoted itself to showing how higher education can be rescued from the illiberalism that has strangled discourse on too many campuses. Steve McGuire, Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom at ACTA, and Jacob Howland, Former Senior VP for Academic Affairs and Dean of Intellectual Foundations at the University of Austin, gave tribute speeches.
In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison talk with MIT philosopher Alex Byrne about efforts to cancel him for thinking differently about gender and sexuality—and then having the audacity to lend his expertise to the Department of Health and Human Services!
In lieu of a traditional acceptance speech, Philip Merrill Award winner Professor Nadine Strossen engaged in a colloquy with ACTA President Michael Poliakoff. In their compelling discussion, Professor Strosseneloquently illustrates the principles of free speech and open dialogue and why they are so essential for both liberal education and our democratic republic. Read the full […]
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