Free Expression and UNE’s Mission

At UNE, we believe that free expression, open inquiry, and respectful debate are crucial to our mission — supporting healthy people, healthy communities, and a healthy planet. In accordance with these guiding principles, we cultivate a lively and robust marketplace of ideas that empowers members of our community to assess information, draw rational conclusions, and use that knowledge to build creative, effective solutions in a troubled world.

At the core of this belief is intellectual humility — a recognition that we all have a lot to learn from others with different knowledge and perspectives. This is true even if sometimes the process makes us feel uncomfortable or we encounter ideas with which we passionately disagree. The pursuit of knowledge is a journey. Discovery, debate, disagreement, and a willingness to change one’s mind are what make the journey so rewarding.

Commencement Addresses

Innovation in Health Care

2024 Commencement Speakers, 鶹ýPresident James D. Herbert and Senator Bernie Sanders speak about the critical needs in American healthcare.

Unity Through Adversity

2023 Commencement Speakers, 鶹ýPresident James D. Herbert and Dr. Ronald A. Crutcher speak about affecting positive social change through dialogue.

“Yea to it All”

2022 Commencement Speaker Jonathan Haidt, Ph.D., and 鶹ýPresident James D. Herbert, Ph.D., deliver empowering messages to 鶹ýgraduates about free inquiry and the open exchange of ideas.

President Herbert’s Remarks

Universities as the Marketplace of Ideas

President Herbert advocates for universities as the apex marketplace of ideas at the 8th annual TEDxDirigo event.

Staff Assembly: Our Mission and the Marketplace of Ideas

President Herbert addresses 鶹ýfaculty and professional staff at the start of the academic year.

A group of U N E students at a Women's March
A student in the crowd makes a comment during an Intersectionality Speaker lecture
Student speaking at an event
A U N E student wearing a rainbow headband and bandana at a Portland Pride Parade
Students and President Herbert at the Women's March in 2021