The 12 Worst Colleges For Free Speech In 2012

Free exchange of ideas is the lifeblood of any university, and for the second year in a row my organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), presents its list of the worst colleges and universities for freedom of speech.

Many of the 12 are repeat offenders for refusing to undo serious punishments of what should be clearly protected speech on campus, while others are new additions that have shown particular hostility to student criticism and, in one case, limiting free speech to a tiny zone on campus. Also bound to raise a buzz, Yale and Harvard, two of the most iconic colleges in the country, top the list for disappointing but ongoing retrenchment against the principles that are supposed to animate higher education. Also, check out our short video below about the list.

Let us know in the comments if your college has overachieved in censorship but did not make the list. To address some common questions last year: first of all, we do not include schools that let students attending know full well that you have limited rights once you get on campus. Sorry, students who choose Brigham Young University or Liberty University know what they're getting into, and we explain our position here. And, yes, there isn't perfect geographical distribution of the worst colleges, but if you look at FIRE cases you will find that we fight battles all over the country (it just seems that a disproportionate number of schools on the East Coast are the ones least willing to back down when caught censoring).

The schools are presented in no particular order. Lastly, yes, we are all too happy to work with colleges to get them off the list before next year.

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• University of Cincinnati

  The<a href="http://thefire.org/spotlight/schools/1285" target="_hplink"> University of Cincinnati</a> maintains a shockingly restrictive free speech zone comprising just 0.1% of the school's <a href="http://thefire.org/article/14214.html" target="_hplink">137-acre campus</a>. The policy, which was named FIRE's S<a href="http://thefire.org/article/8700.html" target="_hplink">peech Code of the Month</a> back in December of 2007, quarantines "demonstrations, pickets, and rallies" to a tiny portion of campus, requires students to request permission to use the zone a full ten working days in advance, and threatens students with criminal prosecution for violations, warning that "[a]nyone violating this policy may be charged with trespassing." Because this public university isn't shy about enforcing its misguided and illiberal policy, it now faces a <a href="http://thefire.org/article/14217.html" target="_hplink">federal civil rights lawsuit</a>. Last month, a political student group seeking to collect signatures from students across campus in support of a ballot initiative filed a First Amendment challenge against the free speech zone after being told by administrators that they were not even "permitted to walk around." The administration added, "if we are informed that you are, Public Safety will be contacted." Threatening to call the cops on civic-minded students who want to talk to their peers about politics sure seems indefensible, and now the University of Cincinnati has to answer for its policy in federal court. Photo Credit: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Outside_040-edit.jpg" target="_hplink">Bearcat2011</a>

• Syracuse University

  Topping the list last year for threatening to <a href="http://thefire.org/case/845.html" target="_hplink">expel a law student</a> for harassment due to his role in a satirical blog about life in law school, <a href="http://thefire.org/spotlight/schools/1143" target="_hplink">Syracuse University</a> makes the list again for an even worse case. This past year, Syracuse's School of Education effectively <a href="http://thefire.org/case/887.html" target="_hplink">expelled an education student </a>who complained on his own Facebook page about a comment that he thought was racially insulting. Matt Werenczak was <a href="http://thefire.org/article/14070.html" target="_hplink">required to undergo</a> counseling and diversity training just to earn a chance of readmission. Just hours after FIRE took Matt's case public, Syracuse backed down but called its free speech violations "standard" and blamed them on the rules of its accreditor, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bird_Library,_Syracuse_University.JPG" target="_hplink">ZeWrestler</a>

• Widener University

  In December 2010, tenured criminal law professor Lawrence J. Connell was <a href="http://thefire.org/case/858.html" target="_hplink">banned from Widener's Delaware campus</a> and charged with numerous violations of the university's Faculty Member Discrimination and Harassment Code. His crimes? Aside from allegedly using the term "black folks" (a choice of words that even President Obama uses), his real "offense" seemed to be his use of the name of Dean Linda Ammons in hypothetical classroom crime scenarios (a <a href="http://volokh.com/2011/02/16/criminal-law-professor-suspended-for-classroom-hypotheticals/" target="_hplink">common practice</a> in law schools). When a faculty panel recommended that this nonsense be dropped, Dean Ammons allegedly induced two law students to refile harassment charges against Connell, and added a new charge of "retaliation" for defending himself. Connell was <a href="http://thefire.org/article/13414.html" target="_hplink">cleared of all </a>charges of harassment and discrimination, but found responsible for retaliation because he had explained his situation to his students! Instead of restoring sanity here, Widener University President James T. Harris accepted Ammons' recommendation that Connell be suspended for one year without pay and be forced to undergo a psychiatric or psychological evaluation before returning to Widener. Connell sued, and the case was ultimately settled out of court. Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150188211901270&set=a.427457761269.226848.88516856269&type=3&theater" target="_hplink">Widener | Facebook </a>

• Harvard University

  Last fall, <a href="http://thefire.org/spotlight/schools/738" target="_hplink">Harvard</a> pressured all freshmen to s<a href="http://thefire.org/article/13516.html" target="_hplink">ign a morality pledge</a> promising that they would exercise "civility" and "kindness ... on a par with intellectual attainment" (a nice-sounding policy with terrible implications for academic freedom, which I explained <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-lukianoff/does-harvard-want-bold-thinkers_b_952322.html" target="_hplink">here</a>). Under pressure, Harvard decided not to publish the names of those who signed it, but still posted the pledges in every residence hall. When it came time for the annual Harvard-Yale football game, Harvard's licensing office <a href="http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/nov/17/harvard-does-not-like-fcc-shirts/" target="_hplink">prohibited Yale's freshman</a> class from using the names of famous Harvard dropouts Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg on game-day T-shirts. Then in December, Harvard's Arts & Sciences faculty effectively <a href="http://thefire.org/case/870.html" target="_hplink">fired a longtime professor </a>because he had published a controversial <a href="http://thefire.org/article/13426.html" target="_hplink">op-ed in India</a> about ways of combating Islamic terrorism. All of this is just the <a href="http://thefire.org/spotlight/schools/harvard-university.html" target="_hplink">tip of the iceberg</a>. Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harvard_college_-_annenberg_hall.jpg" target="_hplink">Jacob Rus</a>

• Yale University

  Talk about a chilling effect on speech, <a href="http://thefire.org/spotlight/schools/296" target="_hplink">Yale </a>has made its community downright frigid. We criticized Yale last year for <a href="http://thefire.org/case/805.html" target="_hplink">censoring a book</a> with cartoon images of Mohammed in an academic book about those very cartoons, and for quashing its <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-lukianoff/font-size5college-student_b_399372.html" target="_hplink">Freshman Class Council's T-shirt</a> for the annual Harvard-Yale football match because the shirts quoted F. Scott Fitzgerald referring to Harvard students as "sissies." Yale has kept busy since then. It <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-lukianoff/font-size5college-student_b_399372.html" target="_hplink">censored the freshman class again</a>, absurdly refusing to approve this year's tees unless Harvard approved them, too (see Harvard's entry). Under pressure from the federal government, Yale <a href="http://thefire.org/case/866.html" target="_hplink">also suspended</a> a fraternity for five years after the pledges' <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-lukianoff/fraternities-disastrous-f_b_910680.html" target="_hplink">satirical, juvenile,</a> and intentionally offensive outdoor chants about sex were deemed to be "imperiling the integrity and values of the University community." Yale raised eyebrows when it gave academic justifications for <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_spectator/2011/07/yales_new_jewish_quota.html" target="_hplink">closing down</a> the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism not long after the center came under criticism for holding a conference ... about antisemitism. And after a committee recommended ending Yale's annual Sex Week, the university forced the organizers to <a href="http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/nov/14/p-resident-levin-was-right-not-to-ban-sex-week/" target="_hplink">change the content</a> of their festivities or else have no Sex Week at all. Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beinecke_Library_interior.JPG" target="_hplink">Ragesoss</a>

• St. Augustine's College

  <a href="http://thefire.org/spotlight/schools/2696" target="_hplink">St. Augustine's College</a> in Raleigh, North Carolina, earned its place on this list by <a href="http://thefire.org/case/864.html" target="_hplink">banning</a> student Roman Caple from participating in its spring 2011 graduation ceremonies merely for advising his fellow students on Facebook <a href="http://thefire.org/article/13252.html" target="_hplink">to come prepared</a> for a contentious meeting about the school's recovery from a destructive tornado. For this civic-minded expression, which the college <a href="http://thefire.org/article/13251.html" target="_hplink">laughably twisted</a> into a "negative social media exchange," St. Augustine's deemed Caple to be "attempt[ing] to create chaos" and "fuel[ing] an already tense situation." It seems there were some thin skins among the St. Augustine's administration. Instead of commending Caple for encouraging his peers to provide documentation to support their arguments, St. Augustine's <a href="http://thefire.org/article/13361.html" target="_hplink">forbade him to walk </a>at graduation or participate in other official activities, forced him to receive his cap and gown from a security officer, and later <a href="http://thefire.org/article/13764.html" target="_hplink">extended his punishment</a> to exclusion from the following fall's Homecoming celebration. Caple, a first-generation college graduate whose family members had already made travel arrangements to attend his graduation, <a href="http://thefire.org/article/13361.html" target="_hplink">sued his alma mater</a> for the violation of its free speech promises, reaching a settlement agreement that was satisfactory to him. Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150315098340052&set=o.49561362418&type=3&theater" target="_hplink">Tiffany Davis</a>

• Michigan State University

  <a href="http://thefire.org/spotlight/schools/805" target="_hplink">Michigan State University</a> remains on our list this year in light of its ongoing prohibition on "spamming," which it <a href="http://thefire.org/public/pdfs/8a334a8e576deefe137d4dbef677abda.pdf?direct" target="_hplink">defines </a>as emailing more than 10 people the same unsolicited email within 48 hours. MSU noted in January that "<a href="http://lct.msu.edu/guidelines-policies/aup/" target="_hplink">MSU IT resources have a finite capacity</a>" which apparently cannot handle 11 unexpected emails over two days. An earlier anti-"spam" policy was central to the school's<a href="http://thefire.org/case/773" target="_hplink"> punishment </a>of student Kara Spencer for sending an email to about 8% of the faculty regarding an imminent decision to change the school's academic calendar. As a student government representative and member of the University Committee on Student Affairs (UCSA), Spencer deserved praise for alerting faculty members to the <a href="http://thefire.org/article/9992.html" target="_hplink">letter</a> that MSU students, faculty, and administrators had written in response to the proposed change. MSU didn't back down until <a href="http://thefire.org/article/10046.html" target="_hplink">13 civil liberties organizations</a> put public pressure on MSU. But then MSU made its <a href="http://thefire.org/article/12341.html" target="_hplink">anti-"spam" policy absurdly worse.</a> Photo Credit:<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MSU_Beaumont_Tower_1.jpg" target="_hplink"> Jeffness</a>

• Colorado College

  <a href="http://thefire.org/case/759.html" target="_hplink">Colorado College</a> remains on our list for refusing to back down from finding two students guilty of "violence" for the "juxtaposition of weaponry and sexuality" when they posted satirical flyers on campus. Back in 2008, two male students using the pseudonym "Coalition of Some Dudes" <a href="http://thefire.org/article/9096.html" target="_hplink">created a flyer</a>, "The Monthly Bag," that parodied "The Monthly Rag," a flyer produced by the Feminist and Gender Studies Interns. Classic case of meeting speech with more speech in the marketplace of ideas, right? Not at Colorado College, where the students were <a href="http://thefire.org/article/9312.html" target="_hplink">charged</a> due to the flyer's references to guy stuff such as chainsaws (in a piece on "chainsaw etiquette") and rifles (using a fact about the range of a sniper rifle). Any reasonable person reading the flyer would have seen that it was pure protected speech, humor, and commentary, but <a href="http://thefire.org/article/9083.html" target="_hplink">despite pressure from FIRE</a> and others, Colorado College to this day <a href="http://thefire.org/article/12237.html" target="_hplink">refuses to reverse</a> its finding against the two students. In addition, the college was a recipient of FIRE's <a href="http://thefire.org/article/13816.html" target="_hplink">"Speech Code of the Month" designation</a> in November 2011 due to a policy banning speech that "produces ridicule" or "embarrassment." If anything is an embarrassment at Colorado College, it's the <a href="http://thefire.org/article/9461.html" target="_hplink">school's attitude</a>, in both policy and practice, toward free speech. Photo Credit: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EdithKinneyGaylordCornerstoneArtsBldg-TimothyHursley.jpg" target="_hplink">Timothy Hursley</a>

• Johns Hopkins University

  For five years, <a href="http://thefire.org/spotlight/schools/2493" target="_hplink">Johns Hopkins University</a> has been forcing students to live by a neo-Victorian "civility" <a href="http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/policy/civility.html" target="_hplink">policy</a> prohibiting "rude, disrespectful behavior." Then-president William R. Brody <a href="http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2006/11dec06/11brody.html" target="_hplink">announced</a> that uncivil, "tasteless," and insufficiently "serious" speech would not be tolerated, invoking the specter of "death and destruction" if people disrespect one another. Early in 2006, Hopkins had turned a blind eye to freedom of the press, <a href="http://thefire.org/case/717.html" target="_hplink">investigating</a> campus conservative newspaper The Carrollton Record for "harassment" but choosing not to investigate when 600 copies of the paper were stolen in violation of the paper's rights. Just months later, Hopkins punished a student for posting "offensive" party <a href="http://www.thefire.org/article/7526.html" target="_hplink">invitations</a> on Facebook,<a href="http://thefire.org/article/7534.html" target="_hplink"> charging him </a>for "failing to respect the rights of others" and impairing the university's "reputation in the community." For punishment, Hopkins suspended the student for one year and required him to complete 300 hours of community service, read 12 books and write a paper on each, and attend an approved workshop on diversity and race relations--all for simply posting invitations on Facebook. After FIRE mounted a <a href="http://www.thefire.org/article/7534.html" target="_hplink">publicity campaign</a>, Hopkins eventually <a href="http://www.thefire.org/article/7631.html" target="_hplink">reduced</a> the sanctions but never reversed the charge. In fact, JHU moved even further away from free speech principles when it enacted the civility policy. And according to the 2011 book<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fall-Faculty-All-Administrative-University-Matters/dp/019978244X" target="_hplink"> <em>The Fall of the Faculty</em></a>, Hopkins even began interfering with faculty speech. Photo Credit:<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gilman_Hall,_Johns_Hopkins_University,_Baltimore,_MD.jpg" target="_hplink"> Daderot</a>

• Tufts University

  Sadly, <a href="http://thefire.org/spotlight/schools/762" target="_hplink">Tufts University</a> has yet to undo the violation of its <a href="http://thefire.org/spotlight/codes/762.html" target="_hplink">promise</a> that it is "committed to free and open discussion of ideas and opinions." During the 2006-2007 school year the campus conservative journal, The Primary Source, published two satirical pieces: a <a href="http://thefire.org/public/pdfs/8248a205683e611ca7239c8d6fa3439e.pdf?direct" target="_hplink">Christmas carol</a> mocking affirmative action policies and an <a href="http://thefire.org/public/pdfs/f102e5ae4168a0125d295748d41d0558.pdf?direct" target="_hplink">"itinerary"</a> for Tufts' "Islamic Awareness Week" that printed facts about Islam and called the religion "intolerant." Rather than taking the opportunity to enter debate of such important issues, Tufts charged the paper for having "targeted" black students and Muslims for "embarrassment" and found the publication guilty of harassment. Tufts then <a href="http://thefire.org/public/pdfs/5e4f4b4bdadd652d41a425c952c43e49.pdf?direct" target="_hplink">refused</a> to allow The Primary Source to print anonymous articles in the future and <a href="http://thefire.org/public/pdfs/5e4f4b4bdadd652d41a425c952c43e49.pdf?direct" target="_hplink">announced</a> that funding for student groups should take into account the "behavior" of the organization. Under pressure from FIRE, Tufts eventually <a href="http://thefire.org/article/8342.html" target="_hplink">overturned</a> these punishments but has yet to drop the harassment findings, and in fact passed a new <a href="http://thefire.org/case/51.html" target="_hplink">restrictive policy</a>. Tufts has had similar problems respecting free speech dating back at least to <a href="http://thefire.org/article/144.html" target="_hplink">1989</a>. Now that Tufts has a new president, here's to hoping Tufts does not make the list next year! Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Campus_-_Tufts_University_-_IMG_0950.JPG" target="_hplink">Daderot</a>

• Bucknell University

  <a href="http://thefire.org/spotlight/schools/bucknell-university.html" target="_hplink">Bucknell University</a> in Pennsylvania <a href="http://thefire.org/article/10777.html" target="_hplink">made news</a> (in the bad way) when it banned students from holding anti-affirmative action "bake sale" protests. Bucknell persists in saying that such protests are illegal even though they aren't. <a href="http://thefire.org/article/12458.html" target="_hplink">John Stossel held</a> one on national television, other colleges regularly permit them, and the <a href="http://www.aauw.org/act/issue_advocacy/actionpages/upload/payequityResourceKit.pdf" target="_hplink">American Association of University Women</a> and <a href="http://feministcampus.org/know/training-units/fundraising.asp" target="_hplink">Feminist Majority Foundation</a> hold similar bake sales to protest the gender wage gap. Instead of restricting such voices, Bucknell should consider encouraging students to hold alternative bake sales like students at <a href="http://thefire.org/article/13687.html" target="_hplink">other colleges have done</a>. In fact, Bucknell repeatedly <a href="http://thefire.org/article/10735.html" target="_hplink">censored</a> a student group's protests and has yet to show a shred of remorse about it or an inclination to change. In 2009, three events by the Bucknell University Conservatives Club were censored in just under three months: two anti-affirmative action bake sales and a protest of President Obama's stimulus plan where the students distributed <a href="http://thefire.org/article/10719.html" target="_hplink">Obama</a> "stimulus dollars" <a href="http://thefire.org/article/10720.html" target="_hplink">that said</a> the plan "makes your money as worthless as monopoly money." Each of these fully <a href="http://thefire.org/case/794.html" target="_hplink">documented instances of censorship </a>violated Bucknell's promise of free expression to students, who are told in the school's student handbook that they are entitled to "the robust and wide-open pursuit of ideas and freedom of speech." Photo Credit:<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bucknell_University_2012_27.JPG" target="_hplink"> Tomwsulcer</a>

• Brandeis University

  <a href="http://thefire.org/spotlight/schools/2482" target="_hplink">Brandeis University</a> declared professor Donald Hindley guilty of racial <a href="http://thefire.org/case/755.html" target="_hplink">harassment and discrimination</a> after he used the word "wetbacks" while criticizing it in his Latin American Politics course. Brandeis even assigned an administrator to <a href="http://thefire.org/article/8853.html" target="_hplink">monitor</a> his classes, while never giving the veteran professor a formal hearing or even putting the allegations against him in writing. Brandeis' contempt for Hindley's rights severely alienated many among Brandeis' faculty and students, and earned Brandeis a place on FIRE's <a href="http://thefire.org/article/12111.html/" target="_hplink">Red Alert</a> list of the very worst colleges for free speech. What has changed since then? Nothing substantial, it seems. The departure of President Jehuda Reinharz and Provost Marty Krauss brought hope that the new president, Frederick Lawrence, would make it clear to faculty that what happened to Hindley would never happen again. So far, though, the harassment finding remains and hangs over the heads of faculty members as a warning to watch what they teach. Brandeis represents the rare case where both students and faculty united to defend the free speech rights of a professor, but ultimately with no success. I hope that the new administration will put this incident behind it and finally expunge the harassment finding against Hindley or, at the very least, explain that no such incident would happen at Brandeis again. Photo Credit:<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carl_J_Shapiro_Science_Center,_Brandeis_University,_Waltham_MA.jpg" target="_hplink"> John Phelan</a>

 

 

 

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Comments

[Callie Morton]

11:10 PM on 04/03/2012

This "article" or slideshow if you will, is one of the most absurd things I have ever read. Where is the disclaimer in giant red letters that states "I decided to ignore all the extremely conservative and religious colleges and universities that restrict in many cases not only the free speech of the students, but their actions and the material they are allowed to learn, and instead target largely liberal universities whose less flattering incidents of snobbery can be spun into bias incidents I hope my readers will at least think are funny." So Yale wants to keep its reputation as the most diverse, politically correct prep school on the planet; telling frat brothers to stop yelling profanities across the quad is hardly an assault to free speech. Syracuse among others are obviously in the wrong, but have nothing on Grove City College which openly rejects "relativism and secularism." Let's not even start on Brigham and Young. One can hardly go around defending Planned Parenthood and pro-choice at an institution where boys need special permission to grow beards. Even Notre Dame, a catholic university is much stricter with students than many, if not all of the schools on this list. IF this was resubmitted under the title "The 12 NorthEastern Colleges with the Largest Jewish Undergraduate Populations" than perhaps this list might achieve some accuracy. As is, if this is accurate, then I can see Russia from my window.

[Greg Lukianoff]

04:05 PM on 04/04/2012

I kind of answered your concern in the text of the opening: "Let us know in the comments if your college has overachieved in censorship but did not make the list. To address some common questions last year: first of all, we do not include schools that let students attending know full well that you have limited rights once you get on campus. Sorry, students who choose Brigham Young University or Liberty University know what they're getting into, and we explain our position here. And, yes, there isn't perfect geographical distribution of the worst colleges, but if you look at FIRE cases you will find that we fight battles all over the country (it just seems that a disproportionate number of schools on the East Coast are the ones least willing to back down when caught censoring)." Not sure what your "The 12 NorthEastern Colleges with the Largest Jewish Undergraduate Populations" means, but as I have certainly seen people get in trouble on college campuses for less. Check out this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-lukianoff/judging-a-book-by-its-cov_b_99729.html

[Greg Lukianoff]

11:15 AM on 04/02/2012

Thanks for all the comments. So far a lot of people have asked about particular cases and schools that did not make the list. Interestingly, I am addressing almost all of the incidents cited here in my forthcoming book Unlearning Liberty, which is due out in stores on October 23 and which I will be handing in exactly TWO weeks from today (gulp). (I have even added a whole chapter about the out-of-control antics of campus police and administrators who try to punish students for merely criticizing them.) There are hundreds of shocking cases, but this list focused in particular on recent cases involving clear free speech violations where the university refused to rectify the situation. For example, the school covered in this video (http://bit.ly/Ha7JoL) backed down from its decision to punish a professor for his posters, so even though it was one the wackiest cases from last year, it did not make the list.

[ActaNonVerbaNow]

08:53 AM on 03/30/2012

I like the idea of FIRE, but my impression is that it's right-wing. I'm not saying they are totally right wing or haven't helped students with left leaning ideas or actions. And, of course, any organization that's not completely devoid of brain power will, if it calls itself as non-partisan, make sure to put in just enough legwork towards what they are not interested in for plausible deniability's sake. Still, I think that it's overall character is not non-partisan, but right wing. Not saying throw the baby out with the bathwater (as there are some serious freedom of speech and experession issues going on among some campuses), just expressing my thoughts.

[Greg Lukianoff]

04:51 PM on 03/30/2012

I think it's a sorry comment on the state of American discourse that the single most important thing some people feel the need to figure out is what side of political spectrum someone is on before they listen to what they have to say. I happen to be a lifelong Democrat, left of center person, while FIRE is made up of people all across the political spectrum (a fact I am indeed VERY proud of, as it is so rare these days). If you look at my background and the cases I have covered on the HuffPo you will see that they range far and wide: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-lukianoff. Seriously people, read the list of cases and ask yourself, do you agree with what the schools have done in these cases? It's a very easy thing to do to decide to label something right wing, or for that matter left wing, and then say "Okay, guess I don't have to listen this argument any more." It's something that is harming our entire society.

[ActaNonVerbaNow]

12:51 AM on 03/31/2012

I appreciate your reply. It's not often the president (or similarly situated person) of any organization responds to some random guy's post on a blog. I still feel the same way but I definitely appreciate your reply. And, in fairness to me, I think I was clear in saying it is "my impression", that you all have done some important work, and that there is important work of the sort that needs doing on college campuses. As far as right or left, it's more a state of mind than a political party (in my view). Also, as I know you know, one can be right on some issues, center on some, and left on others. Take care.

[Greg Lukianoff]

11:39 AM on 03/29/2012

Also, forgot to mention this in the piece, but we are also looking for recommendations for the BEST colleges for free speech, a list we will be doing later this year. Please write in to let me know.

[MeggoWaffle]

11:06 PM on 03/29/2012

Not until you answer my question about why the University of California system was left off this list. Baton beatings at Berkeley, pepper spraying at Davis, rubber bullets at the Regents meeting at Riverside, and prosecution of the Irvine 11. Why would you read my original comment, decide to 'follow' me on HuffPo, and then continue to engage with other commenters while blatantly ignoring my pleas for an answer? Your behavior seriously undermines your legitimacy. I don't know how anyone can take you seriously when you fail to answer such a simple and valid question.

[Greg Lukianoff]

05:03 PM on 03/30/2012

Sorry, I thought this had been answered in the comments many times over. First of all, I did condemn the UC Davis pepper spraying very loudly and very publicly as you can see here: http://thefire.org/article/13872.html. Indeed, I have added an entire chapter to my forthcoming book, Unlearning Liberty, due out in the fall, about how out-of-control the campus police have gotten. There is now a chapter sub-titled “Oh, Actually We Mean DON’T Question Authority.” As for what happened at Irvine, I am also talking about that in the book, but I agree with this: http://thefire.org/article/11560.html. As for following, sorry I just click what comes up when I sign into the HuffPo and your profile came up as “being in my network” for some reason. I can unfollow if you prefer.

[AdamKissel]

05:22 PM on 03/30/2012

The Irvine 11 were prosecuted because they clearly, substantially, and intentionally disrupted an event.

[VaeltajaL]

01:18 AM on 03/29/2012

Louisiana Tech University.
Girls were threatened with failing grades for participating in an off-campus production of The Vagina Monologues. Their no free speech policy even extends off campus.

[Greg Lukianoff]

09:53 AM on 03/29/2012

Very interested in hearing more about this case. Can you ask the students involved to get in touch with www.thefire.org? It reminds me of this case: http://bit.ly/GSRonm

[Peter Bonilla]

11:33 AM on 03/29/2012

Yes, please have them contact FIRE to give us more information on this. They can submit a case to FIRE here: http://thefire.org/cases/submit/

Thanks,

Peter Bonilla, FIRE

[PAthena]

09:35 PM on 03/28/2012

I believe that the enabling of Harvard University is in the constitution of Massachusetts. So it is a public university. Moreover, the other seemingly private universities like Yale get a great deal of tax support in research grants and tuition aid to students.

[bsmsdocdoc]

04:35 PM on 03/28/2012

University of North Dakota should be number one. There is NO speech that cannot be (mis)interpreted as politically incorrect.

[Greg Lukianoff]

09:55 AM on 03/29/2012

Yes, we have clashed with them before. If you know one of someone who got in trouble there have them submit a case at www.thefire.org

[deis user12]

02:37 PM on 03/28/2012

As a Brandeis student, I'm curious what has qualified Brandeis as one of the "12 worst colleges for free speech in 2012", seeing as the only incident mentioned occurred over 4 years ago. As mentioned in this article, our president and provost have since been replaced, and yet the university has made "no substantial changes"? What curent policies or actions by President Lawrence do you believe warrant such a classification?

[Greg Lukianoff]

10:05 AM on 03/29/2012

We have reached out repeatedly to Brandeis and to its new president to expunge the harassment finding against Hindley or at least make a nod to the idea that such a thing would never happen again. So far they haven't. I would LOVE to take Brandeis off the list and it would be a very simple matter at this point for the school to disavow their treatment of Hindley. The overwhelming number of colleges we fight are NOT on this list because they admitted they had made a mistake and undid it. I really and truly hope that the administration will give some indication that what happened to Hindley will not happen again.

[deis user12]

12:51 PM on 03/29/2012

So you're waiting for President Lawrence to apologize for something he had nothing to do with? Ok, that's fine. But what exactly qualifies Brandies as one of the 12 worst colleges of 2012, among all other schools in the country? I see students exercising their right to free speech everyday, with no objections or repercussions. Isn't the fact that nothing like what happened to Hindley has happened again enough indication? As a student I feel my ability to exercise my rights without fear of unjust retaliation completely intact, and the University, in doing so, has given me all the "indication"I need.

[Bear on the Green]

11:53 AM on 03/28/2012

Am I the only who thinks that some of these lists are compiled haphazardly?

[chipot1e]

02:57 PM on 03/28/2012

Completely agree... And how can one overlook UC Davis?

[Megan Tischner]

10:01 AM on 03/28/2012

It is ridiculous to list the University of Cincinnati as "one of the 12 worst colleges for free speech." UC has a very vocal and unrestricted student newspaper, The News Record (http://www.newsrecord.org/). Students on campus have many opportunities to voice their opinions and concerns. HuffPo, do your homework.

[Samantha Harris]

02:03 PM on 03/28/2012

Megan, UC is currently the subject of a federal lawsuit because of a restrictive policy limiting student demonstrations and other expressive activities to just one "free speech zone" on campus, and threatening to charge violators with trespassing. And this policy is not just gathering dust on the books-- the university recently enforced it against a student group attempting to gather signatures for an Ohio ballot initiative (threatening to call campus police if the group strayed beyond the free speech zone), and now continues to defend it in court. FIRE reviews speech-related policies at hundreds of colleges and universities, and this is one of the most restrictive demonstration policies we have ever seen.

[Megan Tischner]

09:05 AM on 03/29/2012

And yet, still not censorship. It's a matter of scheduling, to make sure that demonstrations, pickets and rallies don't interrupt classes (which is what students are at UC for) and research work in labs (which is what many MS and PhD students are at UC for) and that they don't interfere with the workings of the hospitals (University Hospital and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center) and medical offices (many specialists and primary care doctors) on the "Medical Campus."

[Greg Lukianoff]

04:17 PM on 03/28/2012

UC limit protests to .1% of campus and require 10 days advance notice. I have seen a lot of bad free speech zones, but that is surely one of the worst. They are currently being sued for it, btw. These absurdly small zones have been laughed out of court in previous cases.

[Megan Tischner]

05:12 PM on 03/28/2012

Which previous cases?

[Ciganka]

06:44 AM on 03/28/2012

Gotta say that what was being shouted on campus at Yale was over the top.

[Greg Lukianoff]

09:19 AM on 03/28/2012

Oh yes, understood, but I tried to explain why the many cases we have seen at Yale matter for all colleges in this previous post: http://huff.to/ioubnj

[novictim]

02:16 AM on 03/28/2012

How Ironic and LAME is it that this very post is heavily censcored!

Where is my thoughtful post from this AM? Have some shame, Huffpo.

[Y Woodman Brown]

12:10 AM on 03/28/2012

Greg, I'm familiar with FIRE's contributions to individual rights in higher education. Your organization does a fine job--inside the box. Outside the box, consider this:

The very existence of institutional-centric regulations constitutes civil rights violations. All regulations do, any regulation does. They all violate the law, they simply haven't yet been ruled illegal.

Institutions (both educational and corporate) regulations exist extra-judicial to the auspices of the municipalities, states and nation to which they belong. These regulation actually circumvent already established civil and criminal law. They establish their campuses as extra-legal zones wherein Constitutionality has been illegally re-interpreted.

Get it?

Laws exist. 'Conduct codes', 'Speech policies' and the like micromanage a jurisdiction's criminal code. There exists no such code with broadens the federal legal Constitutional definition of 'free speech'. These codes only narrow established Supreme Court interpretations.

Thus, their very existence is unconstitutional. Again, intuitional codes, policies and pledges all further limit behavior than that which is already legally allowable. They usurp the law.

Further, these policies are implemented via extortion. Campus employees and students who don't comply live under very serious threat of employment termination and enrollment expulsion. Institution administrators illegally crossed a line between administration and jurisprudence.

Campuses are not autonomous sovereigns. They receive federal funding, this is true of even the private institutions. Federal student loan, grant and scholarship dough goes straight into school coffers. Their endowments are supplemented by these federal dollars.

[Zak Randell]

11:38 PM on 03/27/2012

It seems that the colleges and stories here were selected not for their transgressions in regard to free speech, but instead for their notability as selective and prestigious schools. The title of "12 Worst Colleges for Free Speech in 2012" then strikes me as a very irresponsible representation of what is actually contained in this article.

Its unfortunate that CC hasn't chosen to pursue this case further with FIRE, as I believe it is a question worth responding to, but the overall tone and approach of the organization gives me pause. I'm discouraged that the Huffington Post, an organization I associated with responsible journalism, has published a story that rings so hollow to someone who actually experienced it. If the free speech that the author and FIRE stand for is for misrepresentation and sexy titles, then I wonder what sort of authority we should confer them.

[Christian Buhl]

09:58 AM on 03/28/2012

"but instead for their notability as selective and prestigious schools."

While it's true that some of these schools are prestigious, some are not, so that clearly wasn't the primary selection criteria.

[rbrown1959]

10:05 PM on 03/27/2012

One of my favorite quotes seems more than suitable here...

"Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views." - William F. Buckley, Jr.