Report finds that 20% of US colleges 'clearly and substantially restrict free speech'
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression released its "Spotlight on Speech Codes" report.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression issued its annual “Spotlight on Speech Codes” report, which found an increase in both “green light” and “red light” colleges for free speech protections.
The free speech organization found in its report that 98, or 20% of colleges in the U.S. earned a “red light” rating for “maintaining policies that clearly and substantially restrict free speech,” while 63 schools, or 12.9%, have a “green light” rating “for maintaining policies that do not seriously imperil free expression,” the report stated.
65.4% of schools earned a “yellow light” rating for “maintaining policies that impose vague regulations on expression.”
FIRE also found that the number of schools with a “red light” rating increased, which stopped a 15-year trend in which the amount of “red light” schools decreased.
Eight schools, or 1.6%, received a “warning” rating because “they do not promise students free speech rights at all.”
The organization found that 105 universities have adopted free speech policy statements, a number which it anticipates will increase.
DePauw University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Radford University and the University of Tulsa were all moved to a “green light” rating, meaning those institutions no longer have restrictive speech policies.
