View source for Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression

{{Short description|American institution, 1989–2019}}

The '''Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression''' was a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution devoted to the defense of the [[First Amendment]] rights guaranteeing [[freedom of speech]] and of the press. The center was founded in 1989, under the direction of former [[University of Virginia]] president [[Robert M. O'Neil]].<ref name="founding">{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE4D6133FF93BA35753C1A96F948260&scp=2&sq=thomas+jefferson+center+protection+of+free+expression&st=nyt |title=University of Virginia President Will Resign |work=New York Times |date=1989-10-08}}</ref> J. Joshua Wheeler succeeded O'Neil as Director of the Center in 2011.<ref name="director">{{cite news |url=http://news.virginia.edu/node/15642?id=15642 |title=Joshua Wheeler Named Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression |work=UVA Today |date=2011-07-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413124637/http://news.virginia.edu/node/15642?id=15642 |archive-date=2014-04-13 }}</ref> It is named after [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Father]] and third president of the United States, [[Thomas Jefferson]].

The Center managed a number of programs and activities to fulfill its mission, including the drafting of ''[[amicus curiae]]'' briefs in support of First Amendment litigants, congressional testimony, educational programs, artistic exhibitions and prizes, and the [[Muzzle Awards|Jefferson Muzzles]] awards.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Provence |first1=Lisa |title=Muzzled: Free speech wall creator shuts down |url=https://www.c-ville.com/muzzled-free-speech-center-shuts-down/ |website=c-ville.com |access-date=29 May 2023 |date=July 27, 2019}}</ref> It also partnered with the Ford Foundation on a program called “Difficult Dialogues, about free speech on campus.<ref>{{cite web |title=UVA Law School relaunches First Amendment Clinic |url=https://www.rcfp.org/uva-first-amendment-clinic/ |website=Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press|date=July 2019 |access-date=29 May 2023}}</ref>
The center was located at [[Pantops Farm]], a property in [[Charlottesville, Virginia]] that was once owned personally by Jefferson.

In 2019, the Center's Board of Directors donated $1 million in assets to the University of Virginia Law School's First Amendment Clinic,<ref>{{cite web |title=Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression |url=https://www.cvillepedia.org/Thomas_Jefferson_Center_for_the_Protection_of_Free_Expression |website=cvillepedia.org |access-date=28 May 2023}}</ref> effectively ending its existence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Muzzled: Free speech wall creator shuts down |url=https://www.c-ville.com/muzzled-free-speech-center-shuts-down/ |website=cvillepedia.org |access-date=28 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=UVA Law School relaunches First Amendment Clinic |url=https://www.rcfp.org/uva-first-amendment-clinic/ |website=Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press |date=July 2019 |access-date=29 May 2023}}</ref>

==References==
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{{Thomas Jefferson}}

[[Category:University of Virginia]]
[[Category:Non-profit organizations based in Charlottesville, Virginia]]
[[Category:Freedom of expression organizations]]
[[Category:1989 establishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:Thomas Jefferson]]
[[Category:Freedom of speech in the United States]]


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