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Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

Harvard and How Silence Isn't Golden

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 04.12.2013 | College
Greg Lukianoff

When we refuse to even have conversations on divisive issues, we help create a culture that fosters silence instead of exploration and innovation. New ideas cannot flourish and progress cannot be made in a society that fears talking it out.

Why Banning Offensive Speech on Campus Fails (VIDEO)

Will Creeley | Posted 01.29.2013 | College
Will Creeley

Censoring offensive speech is the wrong answer, particularly on our nation's college campuses. After all, the college campus has traditionally been an arena for debate and dialogue, and has been deemed by the Supreme Court to be "peculiarly the 'marketplace of ideas.'"

Free Speech for College Students: FIRE's Guide Updated

David Moshman | Posted 11.12.2012 | College
David Moshman

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has published a second edition of its outstanding Guide to Free Speech on Campus, one of its five Guides to Student Rights on Campus. Every college student should read this book.

Judge Rules Ohio College Violating Free Speech Rights

The Huffington Post | Tyler Kingkade | Posted 06.16.2012 | College

A federal court told the University of Cincinnati it must rewrite policies restricting protests on campus. U.S. District Judge Timothy Black ruled ...

Georgetown Should Honor Its Commitment to Free Speech

Adam Kissel | Posted 07.17.2012 | College
Adam Kissel

What does Georgetown really stand for? Georgetown's continuing attempt to have it both ways when it comes to respecting freedom of expression can only earn it more bad press.

Tufts Reverses Suspension Over 'Check Out Our Cox' T-Shirts

Posted 05.07.2012 | College

After a brief suspension over an offending shirt, the Tufts crew team's punishment was overturned on Thursday by the president of the university. "...

Tufts Crew Team Punished for 'Check Out Our Cox' T-Shirts

Adam Kissel | Posted 07.03.2012 | College
Adam Kissel

Parody, satire, humor, and puns are fully part of the marketplace of ideas, and it is unacceptable for a university like Tufts to violate its promises and abuse its "bias incident" policy to decide which jokes may or may not be told on campus.

The Risk Management Industry Teaches Us to See a Hoodie As a Potential Threat

Adam Kissel | Posted 06.10.2012 | College
Adam Kissel

I am dismayed that the risk management industry is training law enforcement and college officials to see a hoodie or "harmful debate" as a potential threat.

The 12 Worst Colleges For Free Speech In 2012

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 05.27.2012 | Home
Greg Lukianoff

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 E...

Student Suspended For Writing His Prof Is Hot

The Huffington Post | Tyler Kingkade | Posted 03.12.2012 | College

A college student at Oakland University in Detroit was banned from campus for a year and ordered to undergo "sensitivity" counseling because he wrote ...

Arizona State Senate to Colleges: Get Rid of Those Non-G-Rated Professors!

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 04.09.2012 | College
Greg Lukianoff

At the same time the Supreme Court is poised to decide if FCC-imposed limits on "indecent" content in broadcast media are an anachronism from a bygone era, Arizona state legislators want to limit what college professors say and do to only what is fit for a Disney movie.

Diverse Coalition Urges Department of Education to Protect Freedom of Speech on Campus

Adam Kissel | Posted 03.07.2012 | College
Adam Kissel

Colleges are all over the map when they try to come up with their own definitions of sexual harassment. Our research has found hundreds of distinct formulations and examples, a large number of which are unconstitutional.

Neil Gaiman Talks Firefly, Free Speech On Campus, and One of the Craziest Cases of the Year (VIDEO)

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 02.28.2012 | College
Greg Lukianoff

2011-12-29-videopull

College Changes Course on Censorship of 'Firefly' Poster

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 12.07.2011 | College
Greg Lukianoff

While I am excited to see Stout offering to educate the community about the First Amendment, it is not the university community that needs educating. It is Sorensen, Police Chief Lisa A. Walter and their fellow administrators who need it.

Censoring Joss Whedon's Firefly and the Chancellor Who Cried Wolf

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 12.05.2011 | College
Greg Lukianoff

A time comes for every campus leader when a mistake is made. If you serve long enough, errors are inevitable, but leaders shouldn't be judged for their errancy, but how they handle mistakes when they happen.

Does Harvard Want Bold Thinkers or Good Little Boys and Girls?

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 11.07.2011 | College
Greg Lukianoff

Harvard has missed something that I fear much of our society has lost sight of: Even if by some weird and lucky coincidence we happened to be right about every belief we cherish, we nevertheless tend not to understand why we hold those values until they are challenged.

Standing Up for Due Process on Campus = "Sticking Up for Penises Everywhere?"

Adam Kissel | Posted 10.30.2011 | College
Adam Kissel

Lower standards of evidence will likely produce more guilty findings -- not just of the guilty, but also the innocent. When verdicts are wrong, the cause of justice on campus is ill-served.

To Survive, Fraternities Need to Stand for Something, Anything

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 12.05.2011 | College
Greg Lukianoff

A lot of fraternities seem to know that their freedom of association is protected by the First Amendment. What fraternities often do not know, however, is that there are several different kinds of freedom of association.

The Department of Education, Yale, And the New Threat to Free Speech on Campus

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 08.15.2011 | College
Greg Lukianoff

Since the 1980s, harassment policies have been the main vehicle for campus speech codes -- that is, collegiate policies that restrict speech protected by the First Amendment.

The Seven Best Colleges For Free Speech

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 07.23.2011 | College
Greg Lukianoff

It is crucial to give credit where credit is due for colleges that uphold freedom of speech, so here is the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education's list.

When Academic Administrators Lose Their Moral Compass

Michael Zimmerman, Ph.D. | Posted 07.10.2011 | College
Michael Zimmerman, Ph.D.

Bill Watts, associate professor of English at Butler University, has just published a compelling and cautionary account of what can happen when univer...

Free Speech, Academic Freedom, and First Amendment Rights of College Faculty

David Moshman | Posted 06.18.2011 | College
David Moshman

We should not be lulled into complacency about the state of academic freedom. At the academic core of teaching and research, intellectual freedom is no longer protected by the First Amendment.

Formidable Coalition Joins Fight for Student Rights

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 12.05.2011 | College
Greg Lukianoff

Hayden Barnes, a former student at Georgia's Valdosta State University (VSU) was kicked out of his college for protesting. This case is easily among the worst I've ever seen.

Let Student Organizations Discriminate, Says Civil Liberties Group

Campus Progress | David Spett | Posted 05.25.2011 | College

Is discrimination on campus ever necessary? A prominent civil liberties group says yes, and its argument is remarkably persuasive. Student organiza...

Wendy Kaminer, "Hate Speech," and Campus Censorship

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 05.25.2011 | College
Greg Lukianoff

Check out Wendy Kaminer's great column, "Debating Hate Speech," over at The Atlantic: Last week I engaged in an online Intelligence Squared debate abo...