Faculty - University of Virginia School of Law

CONTACT
rmo@virginia.edu

SUBJECTS
Church and state, First Amendment on the Internet, First Amendment in the arts, constitutional law, free speech, artistic freedom, higher education, college admissions, students' rights, employee rights, campaign finance reform, Bill of Rights, separation of powers, civil liberties, affirmative action in higher education

Robert M. O'Neil

Professor of Law Emeritus
University Professor Emeritus
LL.B., Harvard Law School, 1961
A.M., Harvard University, 1957
B.A., Harvard University, 1956

Robert O'Neil, former director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression and an authority on the First Amendment, teaches constitutional law of free speech and the press, and church and state. He came to Virginia in 1985 to become the University of Virginia's sixth president, a position he held until 1990.

After his law school graduation, O'Neil clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. In 1963 he began his law faculty career, first as a teacher at the University of California-Berkeley and then as a teacher-administrator. His posts included provost of the University of Cincinnati, vice-president of Indiana University, and president of the statewide University of Wisconsin system.

O'Neil has served as the president of the Virginia Council for Open Government, chairman of the Council for America's First Freedom, director of the Commonwealth Fund and the James River Corporation, and chair of the American Association of University Professors Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure. He is currently director of the Ford Foundation's Difficult Dialogues program, chair of the American Association of University Professors' Special Committee on Academic Freedom and National Security in Time of Crisis, and is a consultant to the Association of Governing Boards on issues of Board Accountability. He has served as a trustee for the Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association (TIAA), WVPT Public Television, and the Piedmont Council for the Arts.

From 1979-95 O'Neil served as a trustee for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He has also chaired the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, a commission on the future of Virginia's judicial system, and a commission of the Markle Foundation on media coverage of presidential elections.

Publications
All Courses
In the Media

"Should Law Schools Pay Students to Quit?" (The Wall Street Journal, 01/20/2012)

"Law Professors Stir National Debate" (Yale Daily News, 01/20/2012)

"Experts and Activists Questions Use of Pepper Spray at Davis" (Inside Higher Ed, 11/21/2011)

"Penn State Under Pressure to Replace President in Abuse Scandal" (Business Week , 11/09/2011)

"UVA's Free Speech Guru Gets a Mouthful of Praise at Gala" (C-Ville Weekly, 11/01/2011)

"The R Word" (Inside Higher Education, 10/20/2011)

"Former UVA President, First Amendment Advocate Bob O'Neil Retires" (Virginia Public Radio, 10/14/2011)

"Virginia State Bar's Crackdown on Lawyer's Blog Raises Questions" (The Washington Post, 10/09/2011)

"Ex-U.Va. President Steps Down from Free Speech Center" (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 07/20/2011)

"Legal Issues Surround JMU Riot, Raid" (NBC29, 04/19/2010)

"Virginia Attorney General Tells Public Colleges to Drop Gay-Rights Protections" (Chronicle of Higher Education, 03/07/2010)

"Christian Group Wages Fight Against Censorship on Campus" (The Arizona Republic, 12/20/2009)

“Group Urges Perriello to Move Office” (The Daily Progress, 12/11/2009)

"Conflicting Rights" (Inside Higher Ed, 12/08/2009)

"A Fine Legal Mess: When Student Groups Collide With Anti-Bias Policy" (Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/22/2009)

"Scholars' Right to Keep Unpublished Work Private Is at Issue in Lawsuit" (Chronicle of HIgher Education, 10/12/2009)

"Md. University System Devising Policy on Student Displays of Porn Films" (The Baltimore Sun, 10/07/2009)

"Experts Doubt Detective’s Lawsuit Against Lynchburg Can Succeed" (Lynchburg News and Advance, 08/15/2009)

"Swine Flu Rumors Travel with the Speed of High-Tech Gadgets" (Kansas City Star, 05/01/2009)

"Dems, GOP elect to pass on dubious award" (USA Today, 04/07/2009)

"Court Decisions Could Silence Professors: Free Speech Issue Affects Public Colleges, Such as DSU" (Delaware News Journal, 03/09/2009)

"Professors' Freedoms Under Assault in the Courts" (Chronicle of Higher Education, 02/25/2009)

"The New Climate of Timidity on Campuses" (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 02/11/2009)

"Seekers, Sellers Navigate the Perks and Pitfalls of Dealing Through Internet Lists" (Kansas City Star, 01/02/2009)

Christmas Wins Another Round (Inside Higher Ed, 12/01/2008)

“Educators Reluctant to Second-Guess UNL Move” (Omaha World-Herald, 10/23/2008)

“What Not to Say in Class During an Election Season” (Chronicle of Higher Education, 09/19/2008)

"Please, No Signs Allowed that Might Make the Coach Feel Sad." (ESPN The Magazine, 09/03/2008)

"Honorary Degrees, Free Speech and Respect" (Inside Higher Ed, 05/16/2008)

"Yale Student's Art Project Stirs Debate Over the Limits of Academic Freedom" (Chronicle of Higher Education, 04/21/2008)

"Free Speech Center Releases Dubious ‘Muzzle’ Awards" (Charlottesville Daily Progress, 04/08/2008)

"You Can’t Say That!" (C'Ville Weekly, 04/08/2008)

"Academic Freedom in the Wired World" (Inside Higher Ed, 03/06/2008)

"William and Mary's President Exits on His Own Terms" (Chronicle of Higher Education, 02/22/2008)

"Where Religion, Ideology and the Web Cross" (Los Angeles Times, 02/17/2008)

"Colleges Face Ominous New Pressures on Academic Freedom" (Chronicle of Higher Education, 02/08/2008)

"U. of Delaware Abandons Sessions on Diversity" (Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/12/2007)

"4 Challenges to Free Speech in Academe" (Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/02/2007)

"Student in Trouble over Web Posting" (Associated Press, 10/11/2007)