FIRE Releases Annual Report On The State Of Free Speech On College Campuses

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) released its annual report on the state of free speech on college and university campuses. In this year’s analysis, the majority of the schools (64%), scored a yellow light rating, and just 11% earned a green light designation. However, it’s important to note that in the past decade, that number has increased from just eight institutions in 2009 to 52 in 2019.

Trump Signs New Executive Order Targeting Anti-Israeli Sentiment on College Campuses

The order that calls for agencies to apply Title VI civil rights law to discrimination against Jewish people. Critics of the executive order worry that the new definition anti-semitism is too broad and will be used to censor legitimate opposition to the Israel.

How an Email to Students about a College Football Game Turned into a Free Speech Controversy

“The issue wasn’t that the SGA email said ‘Protest Trump and you’ll be kicked out'," a student at the University of Alabama said. "The issue was that the timing was suspect, and seemed intended to have a chilling effect on students who may have been planning on booing or protesting."

Police Arrest Two Students at the University of Connecticut for Using a Racial Slur

While the boys’ language was undoubtedly offensive, civil liberties groups say the statute used to arrest them is unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds. 

Students at Georgia Southern University Burn Book By Latina Author

After disagreeing with the way Jennine Capó Crucet’s novel, “Make Your Home Among Strangers,” presented white privilege, a group of students at Georgia Southern University decided to burn her book. The incident serves as an interesting example of a form of expression that is at once protected speech—symbolic speech—and a symbol of censorship.

Appeals Court Rules University of Michigan’s Bias Response Team Indirectly Chills Speech

"Even if an official lacks actual power to punish," the appeals court argued, "the threat of punishment from a public official who appears to have punitive authority can be enough to produce an objective chill."

Department of Education Letter Threatens UNC and Duke with Funding Cuts

In an unprecedented move, the Education Department has ordered a Middle East studies program at Duke and UNC to change its curriculum or else risk losing Title VI funding.

Appeals Court Rules that University Violated Satirical Publications’ First Amendment Rights

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a lower court’s ruling that had dismissed a lawsuit brought by a student publication against the University of California, San […]