National Free Speech News & Commentary

Piper Hutchinson
Louisiana Illuminator

Excerpt: A national free speech organization has sent a letter to LSU President William F. Tate that demands the university undo its termination of a graduate assistant who left a vulgar voicemail for a state senator.

In a letter sent Friday, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a national First Amendment advocacy organization known for its support of conservatives on college campuses, argued LSU had violated the constitutional rights of Marcus Venable, a grad assistant in LSU’s sociology department. He left a phone message for Sen. Mike Fesi, R-Houma, after Fesi gave a speech Tuesday in support of a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth.

Emma Camp
Reason Magazine

Excerpt: According to a new survey, a majority of college students believe that professors who say something "offensive" should be reported to the university.

The survey, from researchers at North Dakota State University, found that 74 percent of students overall supported reporting professors for offensive statements. While a majority of students from all political persuasions agreed with reporting professors, a higher percentage of liberal students were in favor; 81 percent of liberal students supported reporting professors, while only 53 percent of conservative students supported it.

American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA)

Excerpt: Join the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) on August 9, 2023, at 2 p.m. EST for a webinar exploring free expression and intellectual diversity in American higher education. Dr. Steven McGuire, ACTA’s Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom, will moderate the event. Panelists will examine the necessity of free expression and intellectual diversity, threats to these ideals in today’s activist climate, and ways to protect and promote them on campus. Trustees will leave the event with tools and specific action steps to cultivate free expression at their institutions

Aaron Sibarium
Washington Free Beacon

Excerpt: Stanford Law School has parted ways with the diversity administrator who in March joined students in protesting a sitting federal judge, according to an email reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

Ryan Stowers
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: Over the past several years, state lawmakers have debated a growing number of policies related to academic freedom and free expression on university campuses.

In the urgency to address such severe challenges, it is tempting to seek out the most expedient solution. And few solutions could be more expedient than the top-down coercive power of legislation. That’s not how truth-seeking works.

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

Excerpt: Today, a 17-year-old rising senior represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sued his Tennessee public high school after the principal suspended him for posting memes lampooning the principal for being overly serious.

“The First Amendment bars public school employees from acting as a 24/7 board of censors,” said FIRE attorney Conor Fitzpatrick. “As long as a student’s posts do not substantially disrupt school, what teens post on social media on their own time is between them and their parents, not the government.”