Brinner: A Conversation on Freedom of Speech on College Campuses
March 2, 2026 - Features
by Abbie Clements | Student Advisory Board Coordinator
On January 27, 2026, the Student Advisory Board (SAB) hosted its annual spring-semester kick-off event, “Breakfast for Dinner” (also known as Brinner). During this event, students can enjoy Brinner, learn from the program’s guests, and socialize with other SAB students.
For the event, I moderated a conversation with local First Amendment attorney Max Kautsch about free speech on college campuses. Kautsch has a deep knowledge of the First Amendment and its applications on college campuses through his practice as an attorney.
Kautsch discusses the role of free expression on college campuses with students. Photo by Jackson DeAndrea.
Throughout the evening, Kautsch discussed the various protections of the First Amendment and how this applies to dynamics on college campuses, including in classrooms, student protests and controversial speakers.
“The primary role of the university is to house dissenting opinions,” said Kautsch. “It’s not for universities to choose the ‘right’ or most meritorious idea.”
College campuses have been at the center of many conversations about free speech and First Amendment rights, and in an increasingly contentious political environment, many students struggle to find ways to communicate across their differences. Kautsch offered advice to students looking to create more productive free expression environments on campus.
“In this formative educational time in your lives…it is not in anybody’s best interest to immediately shut down discourse,” said Kautsch. “Be able to recognize the difference between something that can actually be provable as true or false versus something that is just a matter of opinion.”
SAB students pose during the Brinner program. Photo by Jackson DeAndrea.
About 50 students attended this conversation about the First Amendment and college campuses, representing a strong start to the semester for the Student Advisory Board.
Check out the full program on local newsroom closures on the Dole Institute’s YouTube channel.
Abbie Clements serves as the Student Advisory Board Coordinator for the Dole Institute of Politics. She leads the Student Advisory Board, the official student group of the Institute. Abbie is a senior studying political science, digital marketing communications and history.
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