Fire (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) has just released its yearly summary of the state of free speech at 481 public and private colleges and universities in the United States. FIRE defines free speech as “the overwhelming majority of speech protected by the First Amendment.” Few exceptions exist. The survey addresses a wide variety of issues with relevance to free speech, including:
Free Speech Zone Policies
Prior Restraints
Security Fee Policies
Policies Governing Speakers, Demonstrations, and Rallies
Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Internet Usage Policies
Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Bullying Policies
Threats and Intimidation
Harassment
Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Obscenity
Incitement
The report is both disappointing and encouraging. It is disappointing because 86% of the institutions surveyed had some impediments to free speech, while only 12% had no impediments. UCLA, but no other UC schools, had no impediments to free speech. The report is encouraging because, for the 14th year in a row, the percentage of schools that were “red-lighted” declined (from 65% in 2012 down to 18% this year).
The report (43 pages) makes for interesting reading. We encourage you to click the link above and take a look.