Laura Beltz
FIREStaff Speaker
Laura has spent a decade on ÃÛÖÏãÌÒ’s Policy Reform team, working with colleges to create a better foundation for free speech on their campuses. Through her role as director, she heads up efforts to assist colleges with improving their policies, procedures, and educational programming on expression.
Laura is a Philadelphia-area native who graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a B.A. in English through the Schreyer Honors College. She is also a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and is a member of the Pennsylvania state bar. At Penn Law, Laura was an associate editor of the Journal of Constitutional Law, and completed internships with FIREand the National Constitution Center.
In her free time, she enjoys hiking — especially when there’s an opportunity to visit a craft brewery afterwards.
Recent Writings
- Speech codes subvert higher ed’s core purpose. Here’s how to fix them.,
- FIRE’s annual Spotlight on Speech Codes report reveals 85% of colleges restrict protected speech,
- Why Hillsdale earns a ‘Warning’ rating from ÃÛÖÏãÌÒ,
- Tulane’s ban on ‘rude’ messages earns ÃÛÖÏãÌÒ’s lowest speech code rating,
- University of South Dakota tramples student free speech rights with restrictive posting policy,
- Wheaton College speech code violates Chicago Statement principles,
- Say what? Westfield State University bans ‘derogatory or inflammatory statements, and/or idle gossip’,
- Trinity University policy burdens events with a ‘History of or Potential for Protests or Disturbance’,
- Cal State Monterey Bay bans signs with ‘offensive language’ in dorms,
- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville bans using computing resources to send ‘offensive material’ ,
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