William Harris
William Harris is a Strategic Campaigns Specialist on FIRE’s Campus Rights Advocacy team, where he designs and executes public affairs campaigns — including digital and grassroots initiatives — to defend student free expression rights nationwide and drive FIRE case victories. As part of his work to identify, cultivate, and activate free speech advocates, William oversees FIRE’s “Let’s Talk” program, helping students develop civil discourse skills and become effective advocates for free speech on campus.
He earned his B.A. in history from Haverford College, with minors in Spanish and the history of art. His senior thesis, “Dare to Look: Manuel Godoy’s Secret Cabinet and Enlightenment in Eighteenth-Century Spain,” explored the Inquisition’s censorship of art and literature and received the History Department Senior Thesis Prize. In May 2024, he delivered a TEDx Talk on art censorship based on his research.
Before joining FIRE full-time, William interned with the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Arts and Culture Advocacy Program, contributed to the Don’t Delete Art campaign, and previously served as a FIRE Summer Intern and Campus Scholar.
A former varsity cross country and track athlete at Haverford, William enjoys staying active outdoors when he’s not advancing free expression or honing his creative writing.
Recent Writings
- How Amazon secretly edits art,
- Snipers, censorship, and unaccountability: Indiana University’s free speech crisis,
- The vanishing Vista,
- Act now: Condemn Indiana University’s censorship of student media,
- How America’s top tribal arts college silenced a student — and made him homeless,
- Will free expression make a comeback at Haverford College?,
- Orchestrated silence: How one of America’s most elite music schools expelled a student for reporting harassment,
- New tools for tough conversations,
- Stranger than fiction: The Young Warrior saga at the Institute of American Indian Arts,
- Mercury in retrograde: How UT Dallas tried to roll back student press rights,
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