150 years
Pursuit of Free Expression
Influential voices have shaped Vanderbilt’s culture of free expression and open
discourse
![](https://www.vanderbilt.edu/150/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/20070202NB003-590x380-c-default.jpg)
![Martin Luther King](https://www.vanderbilt.edu/150/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/mlk-speaks-paporkinm001-380x465-c-default.jpg)
![JFK](https://www.vanderbilt.edu/150/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/jfk-speaks-300x300-c-default.jpg)
![Impact Symposium](https://www.vanderbilt.edu/150/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/impact-20220822JR009-590x380-c-default.jpg)
![](https://www.vanderbilt.edu/150/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/20170116AR0491-380x465-c-default.jpg)
Pursuing free expression through open forums and principled neutrality is at the core of our educational mission
![](https://www.vanderbilt.edu/150/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lawson-20220407JR220-01-1.jpg)
Holding Firm to the Truth
1960
Rev. James Lawson was a pivotal leader in the civil rights movement by teaching nonviolent resistance
![](https://www.vanderbilt.edu/150/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Stokely_Carmichael_Martin_Luther_King.jpg)
Speak Up
1967
Martin Luther King Jr., Strom Thurmond, and others helped put Impact Symposium on the map
![Unity Project](https://www.vanderbilt.edu/150/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/unity-project.jpg)
Teaching Across the Divide
2021
The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy, including an undergraduate course, encourages civil discourse during a time of deep polarization