Campus Speech Module: Academic Freedom and Classroom Speech
The principles behind academic freedom are important for students to understand in any college classroom. This module covers the importance of academic freedom in higher education, the rights of faculty, and how students can handle disagreements with their professors. The module also lays out the framework for a faculty-led panel on academic freedom.
Ohio Senate Passes Campus Speech Bill Limiting Imposition of Security Fees
The Ohio State Senate passed a new bill on campus speech on January 28th that will prohibit free speech zones, and ban the imposition of security fees based on the controversial nature of the speaker’s expression.
Columbia President Lee Bollinger Weighs In On The State of Campus Speech
Columbia University president and First Amendment scholar Lee Bollinger writes about the state of free speech on college campuses. Despite President Trump’s claim that an executive order was necessary to […]
Conservative Speaker Heckled at CUNY Law Raising Campus Speech Concerns
Recently CUNY Law students shouted down Professor Josh Blackman causing debate among First Amendment scholars. In our Spotlight on campus speech, "Lessons from Berkeley on Campus Free Speech" we discuss how U.S. campuses have been hotbeds of political and social debate since the colonial era. By the 1960s, rising civil unrest buoyed the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley. As protests spread, universities and law enforcement cracked down leading to fatalities in separate incidents at Kent State University and Jackson State University. Today campus protests are once again eliciting an escalated police presence. Both public and private universities are struggling how to balance the free exchange of ideas, but public universities have a legal obligation to protect campus freedom of expression. What does this mean for students, campus free speech and speaker’s right to free speech when it is suppressed by the fear of disruption?
Tension Between Free Speech and Inclusivity on College Campuses Simmers
On college campuses, a newer version of free speech is emerging as young generations redraw the line where expression crosses into harm.
On May 5th, the Knight Foundation and Gallup released the 2020 First Amendment on Campus report, an online survey of more than 3,000 full-time undergraduate students, and a large cohort of students from historically black colleges and universities. The First Amendment survey began in the spring of 2016, and the respondents for the 2020 report were queried in the fall of 2019, well before the COVID-19 pandemic.
First Amendment Watch and FIRE Launch Campus Free Speech Orientation Program
First Amendment Watch and FIRE are proud to launch a freshman orientation program aimed at teaching incoming college students about their free speech rights on campus. We've developed a series of modules for universities to utilize during freshman orientation, first-year seminars, and other campus programming to teach new college students about their rights and about common free speech issues they may encounter during their time in school
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.