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
- Texas bill targeting ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ restricts student speech and is unconstitutional,
- Unconstitutional ‘SAFER Act’ violates the First Amendment, undermines academic freedom, and seeks to upend decades of anti-discrimination law,
- Tennessee governor signs bill repealing student conduct policies at two state universities,
- FIRE opposes proposed DEIA regulations at California Community Colleges,
- Kentucky legislature passes historic campus due process bill; heads to governor’s desk for signature,
- Florida lawmakers are about to cross an unconstitutional line. They must amend HB7.,
- Members of Congress, foreign diplomat, and advocacy orgs pressure UNC to cancel course on Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
- FIRE to Georgia regents: Protect academic freedom by rejecting politicized post-tenure review,
- Catherine Lhamon still believes the Title IX regs allow students to ‘rape with impunity’,
- Louisiana House of Representatives must act to stop unconstitutional campus sexual harassment bills passed by Senate,
- State legislatures continue efforts to restrict academic freedom,
- Biden administration commits to anti-Semitism definition that could stifle campus speech,
- More than 100 members of Congress to new Education Secretary: Abandon Title IX rules.,
- Ohio campus free speech bill deserves a final vote and Gov. DeWine’s signature,
- Recapping Samantha Harris’s congressional testimony about new Title IX rules,
- California’s ill-advised attempt to circumvent new Title IX rules,
- A closer look at the opinion denying New York State’s motion to block new Title IX regulations,
- The president asking the Treasury Department to investigate a college’s tax-exempt status is asking for trouble,
- Virginia ‘New Voices’ law extends free press protections for college journalists,
- ‘New Voices’ bills deserve legislators’ support,
- Bills to protect student journalists introduced in Virginia,
- Sen. Chuck Grassley presses universities about commitment to academic freedom,
- American Bar Association urges college campuses to protect ‘freedom and debate protected by the First Amendment’,
- Colorado enacts one-sided campus sexual assault bill,
- Texas governor signs unconstitutional bills into law,
- Texas becomes 17th state to enact campus free speech legislation,
- Montana Gov. vetoes bill to eliminate campus ‘free speech zones’,
- State of Arkansas passes law to protect student free speech rights,
- Problematic campus sexual misconduct bill introduced in New Mexico,
- Comment period for Department of Education’s proposed Title IX rules extended two days due to website issues,
- Professor settles First Amendment lawsuit with University of Kentucky, UK to pay $620,000,
- The Department of Education needs to hear your voice: Comment today to support free speech and due process on campus!,
- Mountain of evidence shows the Department of Education’s prior approach to campus sexual assault was ‘widely criticized’ and ‘failing’,
- University of Wisconsin Title IX investigation leads to lawsuit by accused student,
- Calls for censorship at Ole Miss over professor’s salad tweet must be rejected,
- Recap: FIRE’s Joe Cohn’s testimony in front of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce,
- Louisiana governor signs campus free speech bill into law; law needs technical improvement,
- Problematic Arizona campus free speech bill would allow colleges to restrict students’ rights,
- Campus speech bill in Arizona shows promise but needs improvement,
- ‘New Voices’ bill signed into law in Washington,
- Campus free speech bill introduced in Wyoming extends some protections, but requires significant revisions,
- Bill to prohibit campus 'free speech zones' introduced in U.S. Senate,
- ‘New Voices’ legislation introduced in several states,
- Proposed University of Maine System policy unduly restricts faculty political activity,
- Two bills aimed at protecting student First Amendment rights introduced in Nebraska,
- FIRE asks University of Nebraska-Lincoln to reinstate graduate student,
- Senate hearing makes it clear: There is bipartisan support for free speech on campus,
- Texas Southern University president storms into student event, shuts down speech,
- New campus sexual assault bill introduced in Congress,
- California legislature unanimously urges colleges to adopt free speech policies consistent with the ‘Chicago Statement’,
- Best of Newsdesk: Senators McConnell, Sanders talk about protecting free speech on campus; McConnell mentions FIRE on Senate floor,
- Campus free speech bill becomes law in North Carolina,
- Oklahoma Student Government Association urges state to mandate classroom ‘trigger warnings’,
- Louisiana governor vetoes campus free speech bill,
- Senators McConnell, Sanders talk about protecting free speech on campus; McConnell mentions FIRE on Senate floor,
- New Nevada law protects student journalists,
- Amendments improve Wisconsin free speech bill, but mandatory minimum problems remain,
- Congressional resolution urges colleges to end use of ‘free speech zones’,
- Iowa State University settles First Amendment lawsuit, changes policies,
- Students Arrested for Handing Out Constitutions File First Amendment Lawsuit Against College,
- 2016? More Like ‘1984’ for Student Athletes,
- New Lawsuit Challenges Speech Code at Iowa State University,
- Catching Up with FSN’s Prometheus Society Inductees,
- University of Tennessee Investigating Student Accused of Sexual Harassment for Writing Wrong Name on Quiz,
- FIRE Announces 2016 Prometheus Society Inductees,
- New Survey Details American Attitudes Toward the First Amendment,
- Now Accepting Applications for FIRE Student Network’s Prometheus Society,
- Don’t Miss FIRE at ISFLC!,
- FIRE Student Network: Semester in Review,
- My Speaking Tour Through California,
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