Tom Ginsburg is the Leo Spitz Distinguished Service Professor of International Law at the University of Chicago Law School and has been the faculty director of the Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression since its launch in 2023. The Chicago Forum recently received an anonymous $100 million donation. The *Maroon* sat down with Ginsburg to discuss his hopes for the Forum and his thoughts on campus speech.

*Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.*

Chicago Maroon: At a very basic level, how do you define free expression?

Tom Ginsburg: Let me say what it is not. Free expression is not that anyone can say anything, anytime, without constraint. That’s a naive view of what it is, and in particular, in a university, we have all kinds of constraints on speech. In the broader constitutional order, free expression basically stands for the idea that the government cannot constrain a speaker from expressing any idea. But of course, you can be constrained by your company, your business, your colleagues, social pressure…. Constraints happen a lot in the real world, notwithstanding our very broad protection for free speech in this country. So that’s kind of the background condition against which American universities operate. And I do think, in an academic context, free speech stands for something a little bit different. Free speech stands for our willingness to challenge each other’s ideas, which is essential for the production of knowledge.

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