University of Vermont

From the University of Vermont:

Each academic year, the University of Vermont explores an aspect of today’s society through several components of its Presidential Lecture Series. Each lecture, made possible by endowments from generous donors, explores a particular aspect of that theme.

For the 2024-25 academic year, the university explores the perennial but newly clamorous question of free speech. Who can, cannot, does, and does not speak in the public and private sphere? Why and why not?

Nadine Strossen, former president of the American Civil Liberties Union and professor emeritus at New York University, will deliver the Aiken Lecture. Strossen is best known for convictions concisely encapsulated in the title of her 2018 book, HATE: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship. Introduced by Interim President Patty Prelock.

For more information visit: www.uvm.edu/president/presidential-lecture-series

Students with the UVM program venture across Vermont to write articles for news outlets — here they discuss some of their stories. Hosted by Justin Trombly, editor, Community News Service. Students include Wyatt Obering, Winooski News reporter; Catherine Morrissey, photojournalist; Olivia Conti, former audio and print reporter;
Noah Diedrich, statewide reporter; and, Kate Kampner, statewide environmental reporter.

For more information visit: www.uvm.edu/cas/community-news-service

From the University of Vermont:

The Leahy Public Policy Forum at the University of Vermont is an exchange of ideas and perspectives on major US public policy issues of the 20th and 21st century, especially those in which Senator Patrick Leahy was closely involved during his impactful 48-year career in the US Senate.

The forum seeks to engage the university community and the people of Vermont with thought leaders in the national and global arenas, subject area experts, and first-hand accounts of relevant history. The forum is sponsored and hosted by UVM’s Patrick Leahy Honors College. 

For more information visit: www.uvm.edu/honorscollege/leahy-public-policy-forum

Panel Three

• Moderator Tim Rieser – Foreign Policy Aide to Senator Leahy; Former Democratic Clerk, Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations (Norwich, VT)
• Susan Hammond – Founder, War Legacies Project (Chester, VT)
• Chuck Casey – Major, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.); Former U.S. Defense Attache, Hanoi
• Sera Koulabdara – CEO, Legacies of War; Chair, U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions Coalition (Chair, USCBL-CMC)
• Andrew Wells-Dang – Senior Expert, Southeast Asia, U.S. Institute of Peace

From the University of Vermont:

The Leahy Public Policy Forum at the University of Vermont is an exchange of ideas and perspectives on major US public policy issues of the 20th and 21st century, especially those in which Senator Patrick Leahy was closely involved during his impactful 48-year career in the US Senate.

The forum seeks to engage the university community and the people of Vermont with thought leaders in the national and global arenas, subject area experts, and first-hand accounts of relevant history. The forum is sponsored and hosted by UVM’s Patrick Leahy Honors College. 

For more information visit: www.uvm.edu/honorscollege/leahy-public-policy-forum

Opening Remarks

• Hosted by David Jenemann, Dean of the Patrick Leahy Honors College
• Senator Patrick Leahy - Opening Remarks
• His Excellency Nguyen Quoc Dzung, Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam - Remarks

Panel One

• Moderator Jane Lindholm – Host & Executive Producer, But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids, Vermont Public
• Ernest “Rusty” Sachs – Captain, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), helicopter pilot (Norwich, Vt.)
• William J. Donahue – Captain, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), infantry platoon leader (Hartland, Vt.)
• John Tracy – Sergeant U.S. Army (Ret.), helicopter door gunner and crew (Burlington, Vt.)