Allen Groves, university dean of students at UVA, will speak on “Free Speech at a Crossroads: How a Core Constitutional Value Can Move Us Towards a Deeper Understanding of Difference, Critical to Peace.”
Allen W. Groves, university dean of students at the University of Virginia, will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19, in the Carter Center for Worship and Music at Bridgewater College.
In celebration of Constitution Day on Sept. 17 and the International Day of Peace on Sept. 21, Groves will speak on “Free Speech at a Crossroads: How a Core Constitutional Value Can Move Us Towards a Deeper Understanding of Difference, Critical to Peace.”
Groves is a member of the bars of Virginia and Georgia, and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Courts of Virginia and Georgia, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal, Fourth and Eleventh Circuits. He was one of 30 citizens asked to serve on the Virginia Governor’s Task Force on Combatting Campus Sexual Assault in 2014-15, resulting in a comprehensive report of recommendations for higher education.
In 2014, Groves received the “Outstanding Virginian” award from Equality Virginia, an LGBT advocacy organization. He also received the 2013 “Outstanding Administrator” award from the Black Student Alliance and UVA NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).
Groves is a strong advocate of students’ rights to freedom of speech and association, and was instrumental in helping UVA achieve a “green light” free speech rating from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education in 2010. Subsequently, a 2011 article named UVA as one of “The Seven Best Colleges for Free Speech.”
Free copies of the Constitution of the United States of America will be available.
The program is free and open to the public.