Free-Speech Organization Launches Ad Campaign Warning Colleges That Violate Students' Rights

Today, my organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education launched an extensive national advertising campaign highlighting five colleges that have unapologetically punished students and faculty for what should be clearly protected speech. The ad below appeared today directly adjacent to U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of the best national colleges:

The ad focuses on the almost unbelievable tale of Keith John Sampson, a student at a college in Indiana who was punished simply for sitting at a table and quietly reading a book. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the abuses of free speech rights on college campuses, you may find this story hard to believe, but you can see it for yourself here:

Over the next few days and weeks I will be highlighting the schools on FIRE's Red Alert list. We created the Red Alert list to "honor" those schools that have not only punished students and faculty for clearly protected speech, but have continued to stand by their shameful behavior. Even under intense criticism, and in some cases even the threat of a lawsuit, these schools have stubbornly stuck to their poor decisions. This is the second year in a row that we've placed a full-page ad in U.S. News & World Report highlighting the Red Alert schools. Additionally, this year we are placing ads in U.S. News & World Report's guidebook on the nation's best colleges, in 25 college student newspapers, in each Red Alert school's student newspaper, on USNews.com, and on Facebook. We are, of course, also tweeting up a storm on Twitter.

It is my sincere hope that universities will get the message and that next year these schools will not make yet another a repeat appearance. But if Brandeis, Bucknell, Tufts, Colorado College, Michigan State, and Johns Hopkins think they can just ignore what they've done and hope that people forget, we are perfectly happy to publicly out them again in the pages of U.S. News next year.

Follow Greg Lukianoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/glukianoff

Comments

[myarmsaregreen]

"Sorry, I neither watch videos that Michelle Malkin is in, nor videos that she implores me to watch. "

The American left in a nutshell.

Stick fingers in ears, close eyes to other opinions and vilify those who disagree.

Thanks god for groups like FIRE and the ACLU.

[Thernstrom]

No one who follows higher education should doubt the integrity of FIRE. It is never sloppy with evidence; it never exaggerates the dangers to free speech on college campuses. Its stories can be absolutely trusted. Greg's Huffington Post piece, to which he provides a link, tells an important and too familiar tale.

[Dem02020]

I see no description of facts in the article above, as to why Keith John Sampson was "punished" (and "for simply sitting at a table and quietly reading a book" is unbelieveable for how without balance that description is, as I'm sure whoever "punished" him would give a different reason than that), nor do I see any description of who it was that "punished" him, or what that "punishment" was.

I see a video that lasts fourteen minutes, but I don't read The Huffington Post to watch television, I read the essays because I like good writing (which means I like good reading), and so I wondered if it was possible to find out the details, without watching the video.

I clicked a link in the article, to hopefully see the details of this supposed Free Speech infringement, but saw no details there either, except for another link.

And so I clicked it, but still no written description of Mr. Sampson's plight, just the fourteen minute video again.

So I right-clicked Mr. Sampson's name for a Google search, hoping to get a Wikipedia-type written description of the details, and got a link to Michelle Malkin's site, which not only implored me to attend to this story, but to also watch the fourteen minute video.

Sorry, I neither watch videos that Michelle Malkin is in, nor videos that she implores me to watch.

So I walk away uniformed on this one, too bad: I had fun though.

[Greg Lukianoff - Huffpost Blogger]

Well, yes, the blog does rely on you either watching the video or being comfortable not knowing the details of the case, but you can see what I wrote about this in Huffington Post, here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-lukianoff/judging-a-book-by-its-cov_b_99729.html. You can also see other sources for the case here: http://www.thefire.org/case/760.html.

[Jack Okie]

I entered "Keith John Sampson" as the search term for Bing. The fourth (!) entry returned was this May 2008 story also on HuffPo. Link below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-lukianoff/judging-a-book-by-its-cov_b_99729.html

There are numerous other links to the story available with one-click of the mouse button. Speech codes and suppression of debate are a serious problem at many of our colleges and universities. Note that in this case the ACLU and FIRE both pursued remediation. Either you need to brush up your search engine skills, or open your mind. Or both.

[Mgmax]

You refuse to make the minimal effort to be informed, and so it didn't happen? You are a model citizen, sir.

[Dem02020]

What didn't happen?

I love it, that so many words of sound and fury are passed, but no words are found to describe the supposedly terrible Free Speech infringement that this Sampson guy suffered, or any other description of the supposed injustices inflicted upon these political prisoners you imagine are suffering.­..

Victims of everything, but you can't describe even the least little thing that oppresses you.

Sound and fury, from the insane and funny lunatic fringe.

That's entertainment to the rest of us.