It is my pleasure to invite each of you to the Center for American Studies' Annual Conference in commemoration of America 250 and sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Taking place on Presidents' Day (February 16th) this year's theme is "Endowed by their Creator" and will explore the rights of the First Amendment. The conference begins with a continental breakfast and student poster session at 9 am and is followed by talks at 10 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 3 pm, and a Keynote Address at 4 pm.  All sessions are in the Gaines Theater and are free and open to the public.  

February 16, 2026, Conference—Endowed by their Creator: The First Amendment from the Founding to the Present

Our 2026 Annual Conference on America’s Founding Principles and History will be held in January 2026, the beginning of the nation’s Semiquincentennial celebration. This conference will explore the concept of unalienable rights and their rootedness in the “Law of Nature and Nature’s God,” as well as the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right of conscience and religious liberty, including the liberties of the free exercise of religion, speech, press, and the right to assemble or petition the government. Panels will examine the meaning of religious toleration, the Judeo-Christian Roots of American Liberty, Abraham Lincoln’s invocation of religion, and why freedom of speech must be protected vigilantly as a natural right. 

10 am: Why Tolerate Religion: The rist and Fall of Religious Liberty in America (Mark David Hall, Regent University and Advisory Board Member, Religious Liberty Commission)

11 am: The Law of Nature and Nature's God in the Declaration (Joseph M. Knippenberg, Professor of Politics, Oglethorpe University)

2 pm: The American Proposition; Why the Declaration’s Ideals Must be Promoted  (William E Thro, General Counsel, University of Kentucky, Former CNU General Counsel)

3 pm: Free Speech on Campus: Depoliticizing the University (John G. Grove, Editor, Law and Liberty and CNU Alum and Mark Bauerlein, Editor of First Things and author of The Dumbest Generation.)  

4 pm: The First Amendment in the Age of Rage (Jonathan Turley, J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law, George Washington University School of Law). This will be followed by a book signing.