Among the schools taken to task in this year's report, "The 10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech: 2020," are Harvard University, a repeat offender, and six other East Coast schools.
The ninth annual report explains why each college or university made the list, ranging from Babson College, which fired a professor over an "Innocuous" joke in a private social media post, to the University of Scranton, where the student government refused approval for the startup of a student chapter of a national organization, Turning Point USA, because the group supports conservative causes.
In addition to the "10 worst," FIRE awarded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute the dubious distinction of the Lifetime Censorship Award for maintaining what it called "a years-long rap sheet of flagrant censorship." According to the foundation, the Lifetime Censorship Award is "Reserved for a college or university that threatens the free-speech rights of its students and faculty so often that it deserves individual infamy."
Among other offenses, the Rensselaer administration has charged students handing out flyers critical of the administration on campus with "Solicitation" and denied students permission to peacefully protest, despite the student handbook's assurances of students' right to protest peaceably.
Syracuse University was cited for viewpoint discrimination for its refusal to recognize the conservative student group Young Americans for Freedom, while Long Island University Post was faulted for investigating a student who allegedly handed out flyers containing poetry criticizing the administration.
Since the Philadelphia-based nonprofit FIRE began calling out colleges and universities for their infractions against free speech, it has recognized that some schools have improved enough to be removed from the list.
Jonathan Butcher, a senior policy analyst with The Heritage Foundation's Center for Education Policy, urges state governments and university governing boards to combat the abridgement of free speech on college campuses by considering imposing consequences for anyone, including students, who shuts down a speaker or otherwise violates someone's expressive rights.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/01/31/these-10-colleges-are-ranked-worst-of-the-worst-for-curbing-free-speech/
The ninth annual report explains why each college or university made the list, ranging from Babson College, which fired a professor over an "Innocuous" joke in a private social media post, to the University of Scranton, where the student government refused approval for the startup of a student chapter of a national organization, Turning Point USA, because the group supports conservative causes.
In addition to the "10 worst," FIRE awarded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute the dubious distinction of the Lifetime Censorship Award for maintaining what it called "a years-long rap sheet of flagrant censorship." According to the foundation, the Lifetime Censorship Award is "Reserved for a college or university that threatens the free-speech rights of its students and faculty so often that it deserves individual infamy."
Among other offenses, the Rensselaer administration has charged students handing out flyers critical of the administration on campus with "Solicitation" and denied students permission to peacefully protest, despite the student handbook's assurances of students' right to protest peaceably.
Syracuse University was cited for viewpoint discrimination for its refusal to recognize the conservative student group Young Americans for Freedom, while Long Island University Post was faulted for investigating a student who allegedly handed out flyers containing poetry criticizing the administration.
Since the Philadelphia-based nonprofit FIRE began calling out colleges and universities for their infractions against free speech, it has recognized that some schools have improved enough to be removed from the list.
Jonathan Butcher, a senior policy analyst with The Heritage Foundation's Center for Education Policy, urges state governments and university governing boards to combat the abridgement of free speech on college campuses by considering imposing consequences for anyone, including students, who shuts down a speaker or otherwise violates someone's expressive rights.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/01/31/these-10-colleges-are-ranked-worst-of-the-worst-for-curbing-free-speech/
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