The Office of Public Policy Events (OPPE) at the University of Central Florida was established in accordance with Florida Statute s. 1001.93, which mandates that each state university within the State University System maintain an office dedicated to fostering open dialogue on public policy issues. The OPPE is designed to promote intellectual diversity and civic engagement through events that explore a wide range of contested public policy topics from multiple, divergent, and opposing perspectives.
At UCF, the Board of Trustees has assigned the responsibilities of the OPPE to the Office of Civil Discourse & Engagement (CDE), led by Haley Winston, who also serves as the Director of Public Policy Events. The OPPE reports directly to the Office of General Counsel and is committed to organizing at least four public policy events each academic year—two in the fall and two in the spring. These events include debates and group forums that feature speakers from within and outside the university community, representing widely held and opposing viewpoints on issues such as climate change, immigration, artificial intelligence, and more.
All OPPE events are open to students, faculty, staff, and the general public, unless attendance restrictions are necessary to meet a compelling governmental interest. The office maintains a searchable, publicly accessible calendar of events on its website and in the UCF library system, detailing event titles, speaker affiliations, and sponsoring entities. Additionally, video recordings of each event are posted online within 10 business days and remain accessible for at least five years. These recordings can be found below.
For questions, please contact Civil Discourse and Engagement | Office of Public Policy Events: cde@ucf.edu.
Upcoming Event
Teaching the Constitution: How Should America Prepare Citizens for Self-Government?
Constitution Day Group Forum
Federal law requires every institution that receives federal funds to teach the Constitution each September 17, but there is no national agreement on how. This Constitution Day group forum takes that unsettled question as its subject: how should America teach the Constitution and prepare young people for citizenship? Bringing together voices from education, law, history, and public service, panelists will intentionally engage contrasting and competing perspectives on some of the most debated questions in civic education. Participants will explore disagreements over whether civic education should center on foundational knowledge or inquiry and student action, whether states should mandate civic literacy testing, and who decides what a good citizen needs to know. Grounding the discussion in the founding document itself, the panel will engage the constitutional provisions at the heart of American civic understanding, including the Preamble and Article I’s structure of government, the First Amendment’s protections for speech and dissent, and Article V’s amendment process, as the shared content every framework must reckon with. The purpose of the forum is not to reach consensus, but to model how differing viewpoints can be examined, challenged, and discussed through informed, respectful dialogue. Moderated by Dr. Steve Masyada of the Lou Frey Institute, the forum turns Constitution Day’s own federal mandate into the object of study because the Constitution endures only if each generation is taught to sustain it. Open to students, faculty, staff, and the public.
Special Guests:
- Moderated by Dr. Steve Masyada
- John Sacher, Ph.D.- UCF History Professor
- Maria Pecoraro-McCorkle- Appellate Attorney
- Jeffrey P. Bristol- Attorney, Anthropologist, Naval Officer
- Gary D. Beatty- Prosecutor, Veteran, Public Service Leader
- Chris Spinale, Ph.D.- Director of Curriculum and Associate Director, Lou Frey Institute, Florida Joint Center for Citizenship
Date, Time, and Location
- Thursday, September 17
- Noon
- Live Oak Ballroom