$50,000 awarded for Advancing Free Speech and Expression

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Hello
John,
I am writing today to announce that the winner of the inaugural Richard D. McLellan Prize of $50,000 for Advancing Free Speech and Expression is Greg Lukianoff ([link removed]) , president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).

He is also the author of a number of books, including The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure (with Jonathan Haidt) and The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust and Threatens Us All—But There Is a Solution (with Rikki Schlott).

Lukianoff will be presented with the McLellan Prize during an evening event on December 5, 2024, in Grand Rapids, MI, at the Amway Grand Plaza. ([link removed])

He was selected by a distinguished blue ribbon McLellan Prize Jury ([link removed]) that included Governor John Engler (MI), Governor Mitch Daniels (IN), Susan Goldberg, Walter Hussman Jr., Judges Michael McConnell and James Ho, Charles Overby, Jacob Mchangama, Nadine Strossen, Dr. James Stoner Jr., and Heather Mac Donald.

In choosing Lukianoff, the members of the McLellan Prize Jury noted his recent book, The Canceling of the American Mind, his tireless work as a foremost free speech defender and educator, and his relentless opposition to speech codes and the destructive effects of cancel culture.

Governor John Engler, also a member of the Kirk Center’s board of trustees, said that, “Greg understands the central importance of the First Amendment as few do in our time. He takes a backseat to no one in advancing the ideas necessary to foster a free and responsible society. He is a worthy recipient of the inaugural Richard D. McLellan free speech prize of $50,000.”

“I could not be more honored to be the first recipient of McLellan free speech prize, as its namesake, Richard D. McLellan, was a lifelong and heroic defender of free speech and expression,” Lukianoff said.

Governor Mitch Daniels wrote in a recent Washington Post op-ed ([link removed]) that Lukianoff is the “MVP for Team Freedom.” He successfully directs America’s leading free speech watchdog group and routinely highlights examples of free speech abuses. Daniels noted that The Canceling of the American Mind ([link removed]) , in particular, “inundated its readers with examples of the abuses, and the viciousness, with which the mini-tyrants in our institutions have been stifling the views they deem unacceptable, while trying to compel obeisance to their own brand of orthodoxy.”

The Richard D. McLellan Prize of $50,000 was established in 2023 to draw attention to the central importance of the free speech tradition and encourage innovative work in that space. It is the largest annual prize for distinction and influence in prompting a culture of free speech and expression.

The McLellan Prize is named in honor of Richard D. McLellan ([link removed]) of East Lansing, Michigan. Mr. McLellan is a prominent Michigan attorney who has contributed to virtually all areas of civil political discourse at state, national, and international levels over the past 50 years. “I am proud that this prize bears my name,” McLellan said. “The future of our republic depends on understanding that a free society requires open debate and civil discourse.”

For more information about the upcoming McLellan Prize Award Gala on December 5th in Grand Rapids, including sponsorship opportunities, please contact Kirk Center Events director, Emily Corwin ([email protected]). Tickets for the event may be purchased here ([link removed]) .

Yours in Ordered Libery,

Jeffrey O. Nelson, Ph.D.
Executive Director & CEO

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