Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
As scholars, our job is to protect free and open inquiry so knowledge can advance and serve the public. That’s the through-line of this conversation with Martha McCaughey, special assistant to the president at the University of Wyoming, where she leads a campus initiative on free expression, intellectual freedom, and constructive dialogue.
Martha’s focus is rebuilding public trust by ensuring that the knowledge universities generate is credible and serves the public good, not special interests. She argues that we must re-teach the principles and purpose of the university.
She spotlights practical needs on campus: bringing in experts on free expression and academic freedom and clarifying what rights students and faculty have, inside and outside class. Many faculty are eager to be good stewards but were never taught these rules.
Her north star: scholars should not use ideological litmus tests; they should use scholarly tests that vet ideas so universities benefit the public.
As scholars, our job is to protect free and open inquiry so knowledge can advance and serve the public. That’s the through-line of this conversation with Martha McCaughey, special assistant to the president at the University of Wyoming, where she leads a campus initiative on free expression, intellectual freedom, and constructive dialogue.
Martha’s focus is rebuilding public trust by ensuring that the knowledge universities generate is credible and serves the public good, not special interests. She argues that we must re-teach the principles and purpose of the university.
She spotlights practical needs on campus: bringing in experts on free expression and academic freedom and clarifying what rights students and faculty have, inside and outside class. Many faculty are eager to be good stewards but were never taught these rules.
Her north star: scholars should not use ideological litmus tests; they should use scholarly tests that vet ideas so universities benefit the public.
