Vocal advocate

Tom Garrett, L’03, finished law school with an enduring takeaway: the cruciality of the First Amendment right to free speech.

“I’ve always had this — I don’t want to call it a contrarian streak; that’s probably too strong a word, though my friends might call it that — but this innate belief that everyone, regardless of their opinion or perspective, should have the ability to voice that opinion without fear of reprisal,” Garrett said. “People can, of course, disagree vigorously. But the idea that people should have to remain silent because their opinion is not accepted by the group has always been an issue for me.”

While Garrett remains a licensed attorney in good standing, his free speech advocacy evolved into a career in communications — most recently, and fittingly, as the chief communications officer at the Institute for Free Speech.

“The Institute for Free Speech is a nonpartisan nonprofit that engages in the litigation and protection of political speech rights,” Garrett said. “My job includes media relations, fostering publicity around our cases, and content creation” — responsibilities that target not only Garrett’s strengths, but also his connection to free speech advocacy.

“I think we’ve lost sight of [the fact that] it’s OK to disagree with someone who is a fellow classmate, fellow lawyer, fellow American, whatever,” Garrett says. “And part of what we’re doing is working to reinvigorate that idea.”

Garrett underwent a reinvigoration of his own in his transition to the communications field: “I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many things have just popped back into my head [from law school]. I think that is a testament to the education I got from the University of Richmond and its First Amendment free speech [pedagogy].”