Faculty Need Not Be Afraid to Speak
The Faculty Legal Defense Fund offers “first responder” assistance to protect the expressive and academic freedom rights of faculty at public colleges and universities.
Your livelihood and future career should never be threatened because you speak your mind. FIRE is a faculty rights organization that can help you defend your rights on campus because higher education should be a marketplace of ideas, free from threats to free expression.
FIRE’s award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech and academic freedom news college faculty need to stay informed.
"Without the help and leadership of FIRE, I am certain that I would have been forced out of my career of over 25 years." — Coastal Carolina University Professor Steven Earnest
The Faculty Legal Defense Fund offers “first responder” assistance to protect the expressive and academic freedom rights of faculty at public colleges and universities.
Engage with likeminded faculty members and leverage FIRE's extensive resources promoting free expression on campus.
The FIRE Faculty Network is a coalition of faculty supporters interested in promoting and defending free expression and academic freedom at their institutions.
Join fellow faculty for a weekend of discussion and debate on issues of free speech and academic freedom. This year, the conference will take place in Los Angeles from October 20-22.
FIRE is pleased to offer limited funding support to college faculty interested in pursuing free expression-related programming at their own institutions through our Faculty Network Events Fund.
Communicating the principles and values of our fundamental rights is critical for the future of our country.
FIRE was inspired to create this syllabus database by various members of our Faculty Network who teach courses on free expression issues, to serve as both a reference tool and a means of networking for faculty.
For faculty who study or teach courses on free expression and the First Amendment, FIRE's resources and data provide a wealth of source material that can make a positive addition to any course syllabus or serve as valuable teaching and study aids.
FIRE's Guide to Free Speech on Campus focuses on the threat to freedom of expression posed by the imposition of speech codes, under various misleading names, on campuses across the nation.
Knowing your civil liberties is the first step towards taking action for the causes you care about. When you Learn with FIRE, you’ll take courses on a wide range of topics, including free speech and due process, designed by our expert staff. These courses are for anyone who wants to know how to leverage their rights for change within their communities.
FIRE provides helpful resources for college faculty members seeking to reform policy on their campus.
The following colleges or faculty bodies have adopted or endorsed the Chicago Statement — a “gold standard” free speech policy — or a similar policy.
For students, faculty, administrators, alumni, and others who strive to improve their college's policies regulating student expression.
Vague or ideologically motivated DEI statement policies can too easily function as litmus tests for adherence to prevailing viewpoints.
FIRE defends the rights of students and faculty through several core services.
FIRE’s core defense program provides free assistance to individual students, professors, student media, and campus groups whose fundamental civil liberties are violated.
FIRE’s college Policy Reform team works to proactively and systematically challenge campus policies that violate students’ and faculty members’ free speech and due process rights.
Facing a university investigation? Have officials refused to share evidence or follow fair procedures? FIRE’s lawyers may be able to help.
FIRE advocates for individual rights at both the state and federal level by advocating on behalf of rights-protective legislation and against proposed laws that threaten student and faculty due process rights.
Find out how well your school’s policies protect the free speech rights of students and faculty.
Learn more about the FIRE Faculty Network and hear from our staff of First Amendment experts by watching our faculty webinar series.
Learn more about how FIRE advocates for your rights.
Subscribe to FIRE updates to get the latest free speech news in your inbox as it happens!