For the first time, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has rated the top 53 universities in the country based on 10 fundamental elements of due process. The findings are dire.
The "chilling effect" refers to a phenomenon where individuals or groups refrain from engaging in expression for fear of running afoul of a law or regulation.
FIRE’s Campus Disinvitation Database catalogues incidents led by students and faculty to “disinvite” speakers with whom they disagree from campus appearances.
While speech codes declined overall, FIRE did see a continued increase in restrictive harassment policies in response to the federal government’s unprecedented intervention into universities’ handling of sexual harassment claims.
As FIRE predicted in last year’s report, the May 2013 federal “blueprint” for sexual assault policies and practices has continued to have a negative effect on campus free speech rights.
FIRE surveyed 427 schools for this report and found that more than half maintain severely restrictive speech codes that clearly prohibit protected speech. While unacceptable, there is good news: For the sixth year in a row, the percentage of schools maintaining such policies has declined.
