One in three colleges surveyed maintain severely restrictive speech policies, but 90 percent of top colleges maintain policies that stifle speech to some degree
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 19, 2017 — For the 10th year in a row, the percentage of universities maintaining written policies that severely restrict students’ free speech rights has decreased. But despite a decade of free speech victories to eliminate the most egregious speech codes, more than 90 percent of universities still maintain at least one policy that either restricts protected speech or can too easily be interpreted to do so, according to a new report from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
Released today, Spotlight on Speech Codes 2018: The State of Free Speech on Our Nation’s Campuses reports on written policies at 461 of America’s largest and most prestigious colleges and universities, all of which are accessible online in FIRE’s searchable Spotlight database. FIRE rates schools as “red light,” “yellow light,” or “green light” institutions based on how much, if any, protected speech their policies restrict.
FIRE is also pleased to announce a new feature in our Spotlight database that allows users to write to a school about its speech codes directly from the school’s Spotlight page. Advocates and supporters can now make their voices heard by sending a prewritten or customized email straight to administrators with the click of a button.
TAKE ACTION: CONTACT YOUR SCHOOL ABOUT ITS SPEECH CODES
Major findings from the report include:
“More institutions than ever before understand the importance of free speech and are taking concrete steps to protect it,” said FIRE Vice President of Policy Research Samantha Harris. “There is still a lot of work to be done, though — and we look forward to working with more colleges and universities in the years to come.”
Other findings:
As Congress considers adding
speech code reporting requirements to the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, FIRE’s report informs the policy discussion with data and analysis on the prevalence and nature of speech codes.
Spotlight on Speech Codes 2018: The State of Free Speech on Our Nation’s Campuses can be read in full on FIRE’s website.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending liberty, freedom of speech, due process, academic freedom, legal equality, and freedom of conscience on America’s college campuses.
TAKE ACTION: CONTACT YOUR SCHOOL ABOUT ITS SPEECH CODES