[SeekAndFind]

“That so many students are self-silencing and silencing each other is an indictment of campus culture,” said FIRE Senior Research Fellow Sean Stevens. “How can students develop their distinct voices and ideas in college if they’re too afraid to engage with each other?”

EXPLORE THE RANKINGS

The top colleges for free speech:

1. 1. 1. 1. University of Chicago
         2. Kansas State University
         3. Purdue University
         4. Mississippi State University
         5. Oklahoma State University

The worst colleges for free speech:

1. 1. 1. 199. Skidmore College
         200. Georgetown University
         201. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
         202. University of Pennsylvania
         203. Columbia University

The rankings rely heavily on student responses. Each school’s speech code rating also factored into the scoring; Most schools without any policies that imperil free speech rose in the rankings, while those with restrictive speech codes fell.

This year, FIRE also took into account which schools sanctioned faculty for their speech or disinvited guest speakers based on viewpoint since 2019, giving the institutions that did lower marks.

Self-censorship is pervasive across top-ranked and bottom-ranked schools alike; 63% of respondents worried about damaging their reputation because someone misunderstood something they said or did. An equal percentage said that students shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking on campus was acceptable to some degree.

Other findings from the report include:

1. 1. • Conservative students are most likely to feel they cannot express their opinions freely, with 42% reporting that they “often” feel uncomfortable speaking freely, compared to 13% of liberal students.
      • 40% of students are uncomfortable disagreeing with a professor — in public or in a written assignment.
      • The three most difficult topics to discuss on campus are abortion, racial inequality, and COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

The study also found that majorities of students believe campus speakers with opinions that stray from liberal orthodoxy should not be allowed to speak on campus. FIRE doesn’t take a stance on any of the following issues, but firmly believes that they’re all within the bounds of open campus debate and discussion.

1. 1. • 74% do not support allowing a campus speaker who says transgender people have a mental disorder (rising to over 90% at some campuses)
      • 74% do not support allowing one who says Black Lives Matter is a hate group
      • 69% do not support allowing one who says the 2020 election was stolen
      • 60% do not support allowing one who says abortion should be completely illegal

[nopardons]

BTTT