About Bill Rickards

A Philadelphia suburb native, Bill graduated from Temple University in 2016 with a degree in journalism. During his time as an undergraduate, Bill covered Philadelphia’s city council and a range of issues like civil asset forfeiture and soda taxes for both the student newspaper and his personal blog. Bill began his career by interning and briefly working for the Tax Foundation in Washington D.C. during the last stretch of the 2016 election before moving back to Philadelphia. Drawn to FIRE by his passion for journalism and media, Bill is a certified news junkie. He can be found on weekends in one of Philly’s many concert venues.

Commentary

  • By censoring art, University of Southern Maine misses an opportunity, May 11, 2018

  • Association of American Universities endorses free speech statement, April 20, 2018

  • In new survey, college presidents say they support free speech, but FIRE wants action, April 13, 2018

  • ‘On Liberty’ comes to life, April 11, 2018

  • Hannibal Buress has his mic cut off at Loyola University Chicago, March 20, 2018

  • UPDATE: After Florida school shooting, ‘Worst Colleges for Free Speech’ promising high schoolers a right to protest, March 14, 2018

  • FIRE article in Quillette pushes back on the claim that “hate speech” causes violence, January 24, 2018

  • FIRE article in The Chronicle of Higher Education proposes fixes for FERPA, January 15, 2018

  • FIRE’s Zach Greenberg and Adam Goldstein publish legal scholarship on fixing FERPA abuse, December 12, 2017

  • FIRE in The Washington Times: What students, administrators should know about free speech on campus, October 26, 2017

    • Articles

  • The Atlantic, April 22, 2018, Randa Jarrar, Moral Grandstanding, and Forbearance

  • The Associated Press, April 15, 2018, Wisconsin professor says firing shows anti-conservative bias

  • The Washington Post, April 12, 2018, Do 40 percent of young Americans think free speech is dangerous?

  • LA Times, April 8, 2018, Half of college students aren’t sure protecting free speech is important. That’s bad news

  • National Review, March 29, 2018, The Campus Free-Speech Crisis Is Real, and Clemson’s Got It

  • Reason, March 28, 2018, University Cites Eminent Domain to Kick Students Off Property

  • Toledo Blade, March 26, 2018, After President Trump banner, free speech a hot topic at UT

  • Associated Press, March 21, 2018, Iowa State’s marijuana shirt ban case costs school $1 mln

  • Chronicle of Higher Education, March 13, 2018, The uninvited guest

  • Toledo Blade, March 11, 2018, Adopt the Chicago Statement