University of Richmond

Campus Call for Free Expression Participating President:

University of Richmond

Kevin F. Hallock, President

“A university campus is precisely where we should have open and sometimes difficult conversations about issues. Universities can and must serve as models of constructive dialogue.” — Kevin F. Hallock

Campus Call for Free Expression Planned Activities

• President Hallock will speak to the importance of being open to and engaging across different perspectives during his remarks to new students and their families at the University Welcome on August 23. That same day, this theme will also figure into President Hallock’s remarks to staff and faculty at Colloquy, an annual event to mark the official start of the academic year and recognize outstanding teacher-scholars. 
• Starting in September and continuing through April, the Jepson Leadership Forum will present a series of six programs featuring knowledgeable speakers who will discuss the topic of “Masculinity in a Changing World” from a variety of perspectives. In April, Dr. Jessica Flanigan, Richmond faculty member and C&S faculty institute participant, is co-organizing and moderating a multi-day colloquium on ethics, biology, and masculinity with her faculty colleague Dr. Christopher R. von Rueden. 
• The Gary L. McDowell Institute is dedicated to the values and principles of free inquiry, thoughtful deliberation, and rigorous discussion, and stresses the importance of viewpoint diversity as a way of realizing the prospects of leadership. The Institute is co-directed by Dr. Daniel Palazzolo and Dr. Terry Price, and will offer three public lectures in the 2023-24 academic year.  
• One of the goals in Richmond’s new Strategic Plan is to develop additional (and enhance existing) opportunities for Spiders to engage across and be exposed to a variety of experiences and perspectives. 

About the President

Kevin F. Hallock is the 11th president of the University of Richmond. He enjoys working and engaging with UR’s students, staff, faculty, alumni, parents, and friends. And he believes that the University can become even more remarkable by converging resources and energy around five strategic priorities: academic excellence, belonging & community, access & affordability, well-being, and experiential learning & community engagement. 

An award-winning teacher, Kevin is a labor market economist and the author or editor of 11 books and over 100 publications. He holds the appointment of Distinguished University Professor of Economics at UR and most recently taught a First-Year Seminar for Richmond students on why people earn what they earn. 

Kevin is a fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He serves on the boards of the Jepson Scholars Foundation, Venture Richmond, and Homeward, a Richmond nonprofit dedicated to preventing, reducing, and ending homelessness. He co-founded PayStandards, a software company that uses analytics to improve pay equity and strengthen the pay-to-performance link, and he now serves as Senior Advisor. 

After graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor of arts in economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Kevin earned his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University. For sixteen years, he served on the faculty of Cornell University, where he was most recently Director of the Institute for Compensation Studies and Dean of the SC Johnson College of Business. 

Kevin and his wife, Tina, grew up in a small town in Massachusetts. They live in Richmond with their rescue dogs, Mabel and Matilda, have been married for 32 years, and have two grown children, Emily and Tyler.

The Campus Call for Free Expression is a commitment by a diverse group of college presidents to urgently spotlight, uplift, and re-emphasize the principles of critical inquiry and civic discourse on their campuses. The Campus Call is centered on a coordinated set of presidential and campus activities focused on free expression that collectively amplify higher education’s role in preparing young people to be the empowered citizens our democracy needs.