The Tully Center is dedicated to the study, protection and promotion of free speech.
The generous bequest to fund the Tully Center for Free Speech came from Joan A. Tully ’69.
As a student at Syracuse University, Tully worked at The Daily Orange. Her professional career began at the AP Dow Jones Newswire in New York City. She went on to create a new home furnishings magazine and later edited weekly newspapers in New Jersey.
In the mid-1970s, Tully lived in Belgium, where she was the managing editor of the Brussels Times. She freelanced on projects ranging from a cartoon strip about quality control for Levi’s jeans, an article on environmental issues and publications about multinational corporations.
Tully graduated from the Fordham University School of Law in 1983 and joined the prestigious law firm of Cahill, Gordon & Reindel, specializing in First Amendment issues. After practicing law in New York and Boston, she moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where she worked in real estate and began an antique textile business.
In 2005, Tully died of a brain tumor at the age of 58.