Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Advocacy
Will began defending student and faculty rights for FIRE in 2006 after graduating from New York University School of Law, where he served as an associate executive editor for the New York University Law Review. Will has appeared on national cable television and radio on behalf of FIRE and has spoken to students, faculty, administrators, and attorneys at events across the country. Will’s writing has been published by The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Jurist, Inside Higher Ed, Daily Journal, the Charleston Law Review, and many other outlets. Will edited the second edition of FIRE’s Guide to Due Process and Campus Justice, co-edited the second edition of FIRE’s Guide to Free Speech on Campus, and has coauthored amicus curiae briefs submitted to a number of courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits. Will has taught FIRE’s Continuing Legal Education programs in New York, Pennsylvania, and online. A member of the New York State Bar and the First Amendment Lawyers Association, Will serves as Co-Chair of the Education Subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice.
Will graduated magna cum laude from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 2003. A proud native of Buffalo, New York, Will now lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children.
Published Writings
- “Why Students Need a Guide to Free Speech on Campus More Than Ever,” PBS MediaShift, August 6, 2012
- “Why the Office for Civil Rights’ April ‘Dear Colleague Letter’ Was 2011’s Biggest FIRE Fight,” January 3, 2012
- “New Media, Old Principles: Digital Communication and Free Speech on Campus,” with Greg Lukianoff, Charleston Law Review, Volume 5, Spring 2011, Number 3, July 26, 2011
- “FIRE’s ‘One Trick’: Protecting Civil Liberties,” June 2, 2011
- “Is Campus Censorship the New Normal?,” with Greg Lukianoff, Free Inquiry, August 1, 2010
- “Yale’s cowardice erodes free speech,” The Providence Journal, September 23, 2009
- “Third Circuit delivers a victory for free speech on campus with DeJohn ruling,” Jurist, August 5, 2008
Available Speeches
- Free Speech 101: Protecting Free Expression and the First Amendment at our Nation’s Colleges and Universities
- Campus Justice: The Importance of Due Process and Fundamental Fairness in College Proceedings
- FIRE’s “Greatest Hits”: Learning from the Worst Abuses of Campus Rights
- Facebook vs. the First Amendment: Student Speech in the Digital Age
- Student Speech Rights in Court: Case Law Primer and Update
- Correcting Common Mistakes in Campus Speech Policies
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