A report by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) reveals that U.S. colleges are illegally restricting students’ First Amendment rights. Its annual speech code survey of 437 schools found that 55 percent retain codes that silence students. The good news is that the total was 58.6 percent in 2014. (Personal Liberty, August 14, 2015, by Sam Rolley)
The chair of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee sent letters to 161 public colleges challenging their campus speech codes. FIRE President Greg Lukianoff testified before the committee in June about the dire state of free speech on campus. (FIRE, August 14, 2015, press release)
Three California State Universities are working on changing their free speech policies largely in response to a Cal Poly Pomona case settled in July in the favor of a student prevented on campus from distributing leaflets advocating a vegan diet. (Whittier Daily News, August 9, 2015, by Deau Yarbrough of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)
FIRE has also identified other California state schools with illegal free speech policies including Cal State San Marcos, San Diego State University and UC San Diego. FIRE targets schools that maintain “free speech zones,” barriers to finding out about speech policies and that ban expression defined by vague terms such as “offensive” or expression that would be permissible off campus. (The San Diego Union-Tribune, August 12, 2015, by Gary Warth)