Student Attitudes Toward Freedom of Speech and the Value of Open Debate at Gulu University, 2026: Baseline Distributions and Short-Term Change After an Educational Event

This study examines the baseline distributions and the short-term changes in responses to three statements concerning freedom of speech and open debate. The statements were administered before and after the Entrepreneurship and Leadership Conference held at Gulu University in September 2026 as part of the African Forum for Development and Innovation multi-university longitudinal survey. One hundred and two participants completed both waves of the anonymous voluntary questionnaire. Prior to the conference, 84.3 percent of respondents agreed that freedom of speech is essential regardless of whether a person is right or wrong, 36.3 percent agreed that limits on speech protect people and society, and 91.2 percent agreed that open debate leads to better ideas and outcomes. After the conference the corresponding percentages of Yes responses were 94.1 percent, 38.2 percent, and 94.1 percent. The share of respondents who rejected the claim that limits on speech protect people and society rose from 38.2 percent to 45.1 percent. These results indicate that participants already held strongly positive views of unrestricted speech and open debate and that the event was associated with further consolidation of those views together with a modest increase in the proportion who rejected the protective value of speech limits. The findings constitute the first university-level case in a planned multi-year series that will apply the same three statements at additional institutions.