The Foundation for Individual Rights in Higher Education (FIRE) has just released a list of what they consider to be the top ten worst schools in the nation for students’ free speech.
“There isn’t a week that goes by without a campus free speech controversy reaching the headlines,” wrote Greg Lukianoff, the President of FIRE.
“That’s why it’s as important as ever that we at [FIRE] review the record each year and shine a spotlight on the 10 worst schools for free speech,” wrote Lukianoff.
FIRE has been fighting for free speech on campus since 1999.
One of the schools that landed on the list is Northern Michigan University. Until last year, NMU had a policy prohibiting students from discussing “suicidal or self-destructive thoughts or actions.” Violation of this policy came with the threat of disciplinary action from the college.
But while the school no longer has that policy, it is currently under investigation by the Departments of Justice and Education because of allegations it threatened to kick a student out for discussing mental illness with a friend.
“Will NMU ever acknowledge and apologize to the countless students it hurt in the past, many of whom have spoken up to FIRE and online? Until we get answers, NMU remains on our list of worst schools for free speech,” wrote Lukianoff.
Another school that landed on Lukianoff’s list is the University of South Carolina.
Students at USC who wanted to raise awareness of threats to free speech created a demonstration including some provocative words and symbols.
Afterwards, USC student Ross Abbott was hauled into the school’s office of Equal Opportunity Programs. Apparently, some students alleged Abbott’s pro-free speech campaign amounted to “discrimination.”
While the school later dropped their investigation of Abbot, he sued them with the help of FIRE.
FIRE’s press officer Daniel Burnett told Red Alert the list of colleges was developed after much discussion.
“FIRE staff examine all of the campus free speech issues across the country since our previous year’s list,” Burnett said. “After discussion and debate, we pull out the 10 colleges we believe showcase the greatest threats to free speech rights in the country.”
He also notes that while FIRE does choose the 10 worst colleges for free speech, that they also have a rating system in their “Spotlight database.”
Here is the list:
-Northern Michigan University
-California State University, Los Angeles
-Fordham University
-University of Oregon
-California State University, Long Beach
-Harvard University
-University of South Carolina
-Williams College
-Georgetown University
-DePaul University
