2025 College Yearbook Superlatives

Collage of various school logos and signs for the 2025 free speech superlatives

FIRE's 2025 College Yearbook Superlatives

It’s graduation season again, a time to reflect fondly on the past academic year — or wonder exactly how things went so wrong.

We found ourselves doing both when thinking about the shifting state of free speech on U.S. college campuses. We were impressed by some colleges’ efforts to improve their policies and stand up for free expression in difficult circumstances. Unfortunately, others set their sights on censorship, devising petty and elaborate ways to violate student rights.

Through the good, the bad, and the just-plain-weird of it all, we held censors accountable and gave credit where it was due. That’s the aim of this year’s College Yearbook Superlatives list, which highlights the colorful cast of characters that made our 2024-25 academic year memorable — for better and worse.

Image in the style of yearbook superlatives

Most free speech spirit: Dartmouth College

As the only Ivy League school to currently earn FIRE’s “green light” speech code rating, Dartmouth is comfortable standing out in a crowd. And its free speech spirit doesn’t stop there. It’s also home to the Dartmouth Political Union, a student group that proudly seeks out challenging conversations by hosting speakers from across the political spectrum.

Most improved: University of South Carolina

This year, U of SC made huge free speech gains. Coached by FIRE’s Policy Reform team, it fixed four speech-restrictive policies, taking its speech code rating from “yellow light” to “green light.” This came after the board of trustees flexed the university’s free speech commitment by formally endorsing the Chicago Statement.

Everybody’s friend: Vanderbilt University

As parties on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict called on colleges to comment on campus controversies, Vanderbilt had the confidence to let debate happen instead of dictating student and faculty opinion. Rather than pick a side in the conflict, the school kept its cool and embraced institutional neutrality.

Most persistent censor: University of Texas at Dallas

After the student newspaper published criticism of the university for quashing peaceful pro-Palestinian protests in 2024, UT Dallas administrators fired the editor in chief and refused to pay staff for work they had already performed. When a FIRE staff member came to campus to discuss the incident, the university proved its dedication to censorship by silencing him, too.

Most creative abuse of administrative power: Institute of American Indian Arts

Grad student David McNicholas wasn’t doing anything wrong when in a student zine he published criticism of an IAIA administrator for allegedly stealing money from a food pantry. So administrators at this small art school got creative, accusing him of “bullying” a staff member and initially suspending him from student housing. Despite having to sleep in his car, McNicholas has no regrets: “For an artist like me to make art, I can’t be worried about who I will offend,” he told FIRE.

Most likely to forget the First Amendment: University of Connecticut

At the start of the school year, UConn required incoming students to pledge allegiance not only to patient care but also to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Fortunately, a message from FIRE seemed to jog UConn’s memory of its constitutional obligations. After months of uncertainty, the university assured us that students would not be compelled to recite the oath.

Most likely to go viral (for all the wrong reasons): Columbia University

They say any publicity is good publicity. Columbia seems determined to put that to the test. The embattled university made headlines last year for failing to protect peaceful protesters and to stop substantial campus disruptions. In recent news, it placed dozens of students under investigation for alleged discriminatory harassment, treating pro-Palestinian social media posts, peaceful demonstrations, and op-eds as creating a “hostile environment.”

Most likely to fall asleep in constitutional law class: Nassau Community College

As a public institution, NCC is legally bound to uphold free speech rights — but just try telling that to them. The college hit “snooze” on obligations in an egregious fashion by punishing students for discrimination and harassment without telling them what the complaints were. When it finally revealed the complaints about one student, they amounted to things like calling an administrator an “idiot.” … No comment.

Class clown: Case Western Reserve University

As absurd as it sounds, Case Western wasn’t fooling around when it warned students that saying “bootlicker” and “bitches” could violate the code of conduct. When FIRE criticized its speech-chilling behavior, it doubled down on its anti-expression antics, calling our focus on free speech “myopic.”

Most frustrating free speech flip-flop: East Tennessee State University

After a campus art exhibit featuring images of conservative politicians alongside Nazi symbols angered state officials, ETSU’s president admirably refused to capitulate to demands to remove it. Unfortunately, the school then erected barriers around the art and forced attendees to sign a waiver before viewing it.