Tyler Coward
FIRE Staff Speaker
Legislative Team
Tyler is an attorney and a 2010 graduate of Indiana University-Bloomington, where he was an executive board member of Sigma Phi Epsilon and a director on the Indiana Memorial Union Board of Directors, IU’s largest student programing board. He is also a 2015 graduate of the Michigan State University College of Law, where he participated in the school’s First Amendment Clinic and served as president of MSU Law’s chapter of the Federalist Society. During law school, Tyler completed legal internships at the US Department of the Interior’s Departmental Ethics Office and later at the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Since joining FIRE, Tyler has testified in state legislatures across the country about campus free speech and due process issues. He has also spoken at nearly 50 colleges and universities nationwide, discussing First Amendment freedoms, common ways in which universities censor student expression, and how students can stand up for their right to free speech.
Tyler resides in Washington, DC, and is a member of the DC Bar. He is an avid supporter of Chelsea FC, the Indianapolis Colts, the Indiana Pacers, and all things Indiana Hoosiers.
Recent Writings
- Feds to Columbia: ‘You want $400 million in contracts back? Do this (or else)’,
- Key takeaways from OCR’s Title VI FAQ clarification,
- As compliance deadline looms, colleges must resist censorship — and the feds must provide more clarity,
- OCR’s new Title VI letter: FIRE’s analysis and recommendations,
- House passes historic legislation protecting free speech on college campuses,
- House Oversight Committee continues chilling investigation into student groups and nonprofits ,
- Kansas takes a stand for intellectual freedom,
- Indiana’s SB 202 holds promise, but needs changes to protect academic freedom,
- Department of Education’s newest ‘Dear Colleague’ letter relies on unconstitutional standards, but offers some promise,
- Continuing a pattern and practice of unconstitutional diktats, OCR now requires schools to ‘promote diversity’ to comply with anti-discrimination laws,
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