The next generation of the Federalist Society is taking on the culture wars through dialogue

The Federalist Society Lawtheryers Convention is kicking off this week in Washington, DC, where this year’s theme is, “promoting everything from debate skills, free speech and honest engagement on every side of politics.”

This event will see law students from universities across the country, who stand up for free speech and diversity from the breakdown of the event’s speakers, or lead to the departure of peers or professors.

Students, who refer to Federalist Society chapters at law schools across the US, face very different challenges to defending free speech and open debate, although some are more subtle than others.

As the next generation of lawyers prepare to join hundreds of fellow students, future peers, and judges in DC for a major conference, but let’s put it simply – in the academic environment they are often punished for conducting an open discussion.

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Each of the students pointed to different attempts to intimidate them to speak out or harass efforts to engage with others in good faith that they have encountered – part of a broader pattern playing out on campuses across the country.

Last month, New York University Law School administrators canceled a pro-Israel legal scholar, Ilya Shapiro, from speaking at an event hosted by the Federalist Society CHAPTER on Oct. 7.

The administration initially suggested that the group postpone the date of the event, citing concerns of protest and renewal. The students resisted and insisted on their retention, saying instead that they should move or postpone if they might “contribute to Heckler’s veto.”

Public backlash began, and eventually the administration agreed to allow Spiro to speak at the event as scheduled.

URTERE has only strengthened in recent years, and students present cases of attempts to intimidate or members of the Ostize, ranging from subtle to complete.

At the University of Michigan, students gathered outside the Federalist Society event “taking notes on who was coming and going,” said Matthew Holmes, President of the University of Michigan Law School.

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Anti-Israel protesters walk up and down Fifth Avenue toward Washington Square Park in New York City on Friday, May 3, 2024. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)

“There are groups that tell their members, ‘If you go there, you’re not welcome here,'” he added.

Other incidents have targeted Jewish speakers and conservative views, prompting some to call it a growing culture of intolerance.

“We’re entering a new legal risk,” said Jordan Holmes, a law student at the University of Texas at Austin, speaking at this year’s conference.

“From AI to the courts, everything is changing,” said Holmes, who heads the University’s Federalist Society Chapter. “But when people stop talking to each other, that’s when violence starts. We will not allow that to happen.”

David Huang, who heads the Federalist Society at Yale, found the same. Each of the law students spoke differently about the impact of Charlie Kirk’s murder. Kirk was killed while speaking on stage at a university in Utah. His death shocked the US, and especially on college campuses across the country, where administrators and students alike raised dire fears of violence.

The president of the Federalist Society and other young people interviewed after Kirk’s death are concerned about their safety and fear of a chilling effect or events that protect the controversial debate.

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A woman holds a sign as people attend a Vigil hosted by Turning Point in the USA for Slain Conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Colorado State Tour University, Tock Collins, 2025. (Cheney Orr/Reuters)

“I think that’s something that hits hard,” Huang said, of Kirk’s death, and the nature of Campus. “The threat of political violence — especially against conservatives in law schools, and on college campuses — is a very troubling thing to have in the back of your mind.”

But, he added, those who were afraid were soon put to rest by the event that the Yale Federalist Chapter hosted one day later, focused on the contentious topic of citizens of the question. “It’s one of our most controversial events of the semester,” Huang said. “I was worried. I asked for more security, but things went well, and we actually had the highest attendance in the area.”

“There’s this idea that there’s no consensus,” Holmes said.

He said of Kirk, “I think one of his best quotes is, ‘when people stop talking, that’s when violence starts.’ And I see a lot of people who don’t want to get involved, that they don’t even see the opposing views as relevant, it’s worth acknowledging. “

At the end of the day, Holmes said, “This idea that I can’t even talk to you because your views are so disturbing — that just can’t last if we’re going to have a democratic republic.”

“I think other FedSOC Presidents are reporting similar things happening, as people see the importance of including dissent – in conversations, in events, against violence.”

It is true, students say that these efforts still have a ways to go.

Still, they strike an optimistic tone for the future. Wumb noted his dean’s leadership and Texas politics, while Holmes pointed to the state’s freedom funds at the University of Michigan aimed at bringing students from across the board to a structured, honest discussion.

Banners at the Harry Elkins Memorial Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 27, 2025. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg)

“[What’s] “The most distinctive thing about the Federalist society and its society is that the people are there with an eye toward the future,” said Lamb. They are empowered. And in a world that often tells young people to find something to be angry about, it’s really refreshing to have people and students, lawyers, who are serious. “

“Last week, we brought in the Attorney General of Tennessee, Jonathan Scrametti, who had just won a high court case regarding sex reassignment, surgery and child chemotherapy,” Huang said.

“People have looted posters, they’ve brought them to events, they say feed Soc to invite baby killers, and you know, people have their rights to express their disagreement – but that kind of rhetoric that doesn’t make sense is a kind of national political thing,” he continued.

“And I think we all know very well the consequences that can follow. How I would like people to express their disagreement is easy,” said Huang. “Come, show up to the event and ask the tough questions.”

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That was done by each student, each one who will participate in this year’s conference in public areas.

The Fedelist Society Student Division and the President of the Student Chapter will host a live event at this year’s conference where they discuss with the judges about love, hobby, or interest – and its relationship with the Law. Holmes and Caroline Martin, head of the Federalist Society chapter at the University of North Carolina School of Economics, will host this year’s Sit-Downs.

The hope, the organizers say, is to help with the wishes of the judges beyond their day jobs, and continue home that they are human beings, under strict court procedures and heavy black robes.

“Come to events, have your ideas challenged,” said Holmes of the Federalist Society at events across the country. “Feel free to push back. We really, really want to look at ideas. Because when we do that, that’s when we get the best results.”