A Donation with Real Impact

Over the past thirteen years, FIRE has proven again and again that we can achieve real results on campus. In 2012, our Individual Rights Defense Program secured 24 victories at 23 individual colleges and universities with a total enrollment of more than half a million students. This brings FIRE's total public case victories since 1999 to 248 at 165 colleges and universities with a total enrollment of more than 3.3 million students. In addition, our work has helped decrease the percentage of colleges and universities that maintain speech codes that seriously infringe upon the rights of students from a high of 75% to 62%. We've achieved 115 policy reform victories, and our Speech Code Litigation Project continues to enjoy a 100% victory rate. Meanwhile, this hard work has yielded considerable media attention. In 2012 alone, FIRE has been featured in 243 articles in over 110 publications and FIRE staff have written almost 50 op-ed pieces and appeared on 34 radio programs and six television shows.

But FIRE's impact on campus is much deeper than numbers. Media appearances mean concrete attention for serious violations of liberty, policy changes represent long-term reforms to the underlying problems on campus, and court victories translate into legal precedent that establishes even firmer protections for student rights. Most importantly, all 243 FIRE victories involved a real student, campus group, or faculty member whose career, status, and reputation were at stake.

By contributing to FIRE you support more than the figures behind our success, you support the individuals we fight to defend. 

There is no greater testament to the impact of your support than the gratitude of those individuals.

• "Thank you very much. ... FIRE has been a godsend, as it has been for numerous individuals on campuses around the country. ... It is a really good cause. Thank you again very, very much." – Professor Maurice Eisenstein

• "Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to hear my story and to take action in hopes of changing these broad, stifling policies." – Jilly Burns

• "Again, thank you for all you've done. It's been a relief to have educated individuals advocate on our behalf and challenge the flawed nature of our disciplinary system here at UTA. – Troy Maikowski 

• "I can't thank you enough for your efforts." – Bobby Fox

• "... I just wanted to let you know what a huge difference your involvement made. Thank you very much for your timely, dedicated, and knowledgeable help." – Professor Liza Smith

• "I can't say enough good things about FIRE ... In short, they were invaluable in my case." – Professor Stephen Kershnar 

• "I can't thank you enough for the noble work that you do for students regardless of their viewpoint or background." – Lance Steiger 

• "... FIRE was amazing ... Thank you for your service and tenacity on our behalf." – Law Students Pro-Life Club at Washington University in St. Louis

• "Until FIRE stepped in on the side of liberty, I felt as if I was standing on the tracks trying to stop a freight train ... Not only have you stood up for my right to free speech, but you have done so for all those students who will come after me." – Steven Hinkle

• "Thank you to FIRE and thank you to all the FIRE donors who believe that free speech is a constitutional right guaranteed to all Americans wherever they are, even on a college campus." – College Republicans at University of California, Irvine

In order to keep fighting for these students and faculty members, FIRE needs your support. By contributing to FIRE, you can guarantee that every voice on campus has an advocate. Please consider donating today!