The Department of Education released new, final regulations this past week, providing crucial free speech and religious liberty protections for students at our nation’s public college campuses. Institutions that violate those core rights will risk losing access to federal education grants. The… Read More ›
FIRE
Fordham student punished for holding a gun in Instagram photo memorializing Tiananmen Square massacre
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is taking aim at Fordham University for placing a student on probation for two images he posted on social media, one of which memorialized the Tiananmen Square massacre. On June 3, rising senior Austin… Read More ›
Binghamton University campus police surveil students and threaten prosecution over anti-racism flyers
Binghamton, NY — After calling students’ expressive activities “a violation of the law and of the student handbook,” State University of New York at Binghamton campus police surveilled students’ literature distribution, threatened to prosecute them for posting flyers indoors, and… Read More ›
The University of New Hampshire earns top rating for free speech
Durham, NC — New Hampshire’s flagship public research university has become the fortieth institution in the country to earn the highest rating for free speech from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). The University of New Hampshire (UNH)… Read More ›
Syracuse University threatens expulsion of students involved in satirical fraternity ‘roast’
Syracuse, NY, May 7, 2018 — A Syracuse University engineering fraternity has been dismantled and its members face possible expulsion after videos of a satirical “roast” leaked from a private Facebook page last month. An adjunct professor who questioned the… Read More ›
‘Too controversial’: Polk State College rejects professor’s anti-Trump artwork
Lakeland, Fla — Free expression on campus isn’t childproofed — except at Polk State College, where part-time faculty member Serhat Tanyolacar’s artwork was rejected from a faculty art exhibition for being “too controversial.” In early January, Polk State encouraged all… Read More ›
Florida Senate Judiciary Committee Should Seize Opportunity to Protect Free Speech on Campus
Tallahassee, Fla – Today, the Florida Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on whether or not to advance SB 1234, also known as the Campus Free Expression Act. The bill will improve the free speech climate at Florida’s publicly funded college and university campuses by… Read More ›
Student detained by Joliet Junior College police for handing out flyers
Chicago, Illinois — Joliet Junior College (JJC) student Ivette Salazar only wanted to do what Americans do every day: exercise her First Amendment right to respond to an opposing viewpoint. For that, campus police detained her, confiscated her political… Read More ›
Rensselaer Polytech continues censorship of its students
TROY, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute administrators are doubling down on their crusade to stamp out student criticism. The school is bringing disciplinary charges against students who participated in a peaceful demonstration last month, even accusing one student of “operating… Read More ›
Student groups to appeal after court dismisses lawsuit against University of South Carolina administrators
Columbia, S.C. — Can the University of South Carolina’s equal opportunity office investigate students for a university-approved free speech event because other students claim they find the event “offensive” and “triggering?” The answer, which should alarm any American who cares… Read More ›