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¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ welcomes Cornel West and Robert P. George for a timely and necessary dialogue on freedom of expression, truth, and democratic life as part of the annual Hugo L. Black Lecture on Freedom of Expression, sponsored by the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life.

Drawing on their new book, Truth Matters: A Dialogue on Fruitful Disagreement in the Age of Division, West and George engage a range of social and moral questions on which Americans are deeply divided. Rather than avoiding disagreement, they model what it means to confront it directly—through rigorous intellectual exchange, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to truth.

Their conversation explores the social conditions necessary for truth-seeking, including freedom of speech, as well as the personal virtues—intellectual humility, courage, and moral seriousness—required to sustain meaningful dialogue in a pluralistic society.

About the Speakers

Cornel West is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary and one of the nation’s most influential public intellectuals. The author of more than twenty books—including Race Matters, Democracy Matters, and Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud—West is known for his prophetic voice on race, democracy, love, and justice. A frequent commentator on national media, he has taught at Harvard and Princeton and remains deeply committed to public philosophy that speaks beyond the academy.

Robert P. George is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University and founder of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. A leading legal and political philosopher, George has served on numerous national commissions, including the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He is the author of Making Men Moral and In Defense of Natural Law and has lectured widely at universities around the world.

Free and open to the public, in-person or virtual attendance. Reception to follow.

This lecture is part of Renewing Democracy’s Promise, Wesleyan’s three-year initiative to strengthen democratic culture at a moment when polarization is testing communities across the nation.

The Hugo L. Black annual lecture is designed to bring to the Wesleyan campus public figures and scholars with experience and expertise in matters related to the First Amendment and freedom of expression. This lecture is endowed by Leonard S. Halpert ’44 (1922–2017), who believed that the First Amendment to the US Constitution is the basis upon which we enjoy all other Civil Rights. This lecture is named in honor of .