Albany Law Review Vol. 89 Presents:

The Cost of Compliance:

The Threat to Free Speech and Academic Freedom in Higher Education

Friday, February 13, 2026

12:30 P.M. CLE Check-in (attorneys)
1:00 - 4:00 P.M. PROGRAM
4:00 - 5:00 P.M. RECEPTION

Dean Alexander Moot Court Room
Albany Law School, 1928 Building
80 New Scotland Avenue, Albany, NY 12208

Registration

Attendee List

Albany Law Review Vol. 89 will be hosting its flagship symposium on February 13^th, 2026. The symposium will explore First Amendment issues on college campuses, with particular focus on government pressure to censor students and faculty through the threat of withdrawing funding. Panelists examine the broader implications of conditioning financial support on ideological conformity, including risks to the quality of higher education, academic freedom, institutional independence, and research integrity. The discussion will also address how such practices may violate the First Amendment rights of students and faculty, and will consider the role students, faculty, and institutions can play in protecting constitutional freedoms on campus. 

Keynote Speaker

Robert Post
Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School

Panelists

Ruth Colker
Distinguished University Professor and Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law

Julie Novkov
Dean of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, a Collins Fellow, and Professor of Political Science and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University at Albany, SUNY

Kapil Longani
Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs and General Counsel for the State University of New York

Chel Miller
Program Director in the Government Law Center at Albany Law School, and Council President, NYCLU Capital Region

Moderator

James Redwood
Professor of Law at Albany Law School 
 

CLE Information

Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits will be available in-person only.

Albany Law School’s Center for Continuing Legal Education has been certified by the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board as an accredited provider of Continuing Legal Education in the State of New York. This program has been accredited as a source of 1 continuing legal education credit for both transitional and non-transitional attorneys in New York State (1 Professional Practice). For financial hardship guidelines, please call the Center for Continuing Legal Education at (518) 472-5888. 

ACCOMMODATION

We welcome requests for accommodation due to a disability.  Please contact Albany Law School’s Center for Continuing Legal Education at (518) 472-5888 at least a week prior to the course to discuss your requirements.

NOTE

New York State Continuing Legal Education Board regulations state that credit shall be awarded only for attendance at an entire course or program, or for attendance at an entire session of a course or program. No credit shall be awarded for attending a portion of a course or a portion of a session.