FIRE Fights For Your Rights

Since its founding more than two decades ago as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, FIRE has become the nation’s leading defender of fundamental rights on college campuses through our unique mix of programming, including student and faculty outreach, public education campaigns, individual case advocacy, and policy reform efforts. In 2022, FIRE changed its name to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and announced an expansion initiative into off-campus free speech advocacy and legal defense.

Learn more about FIRE’s expansion

Meet Our Team

New FIRE logo with large margins

What We Do

FIRE defends and promotes the value of free speech for all Americans in our courtrooms, on our campuses, and in our culture.

FIRE's Mission

Independence Hall in Philadelphia
Greg Lukianoff - FIRE

Defending free speech since 1999

History

Since its founding, FIRE has assisted students and faculty in vindicating their rights to free speech and academic freedom.

Read FIRE's History

Elizabeth Stanley
FIRE’s Internship Program gave me the opportunity not only to learn more about the First Amendment and its role on college and university campuses but it also allowed me to grow professionally, preparing me for future work experiences.

Join FIRE's Team

In 2019,  Kenyon College student Elizabeth Stanley joined FIRE as a summer intern, and after graduating in 2021 she joined FIRE as a program associate. FIRE kindles a collaborative, inclusive, fast-paced workplace culture that has helped us achieve our goals for more than 20 years. Plus, we have phenomenal perks!

Jobs at FIRE

Meet Our People

FIRE is a mission-driven organization of hardworking, dedicated team members committed to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought.

the fIRE team

FIRE Staff at the Franklin Institute 2022

Defending Your Rights

FIRE defends and sustains the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the essential qualities of liberty — and carries out this mission through several core services.

Reedley College professor Bill Blanken
“I’m a professor of chemistry. How am I supposed to incorporate DEI into my classroom instruction? What’s the ‘anti-racist’ perspective on the atomic mass of boron?" — Reedley College Professor Bill Blanken

FIRE Has Your Back

Faculty Story

FIRE filed a lawsuit on behalf of six California community college professors to halt new, systemwide regulations forcing professors to espouse and teach politicized conceptions of “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

Read Their Story

Host a FIRE Speaker on Your Campus

Hosting a FIRE speaker is a great way to catalyze social change and educate your community about the importance of free speech, due process, and religious liberty.

Find a Speaker

Share