Table of Contents
FIREpartners with the New Tolerance Campaign, urges new Columbia president to do better on free speech
Postmodern Studio / Shutterstock.com
Columbia University in New York City.
Columbia University — a prominent institution of higher education — unfortunately ranked dead last in ֭’s of 203 colleges and universities.
To ensure Columbia University not only promises to protect free speech but actively defends it, FIREhas partnered with the to empower students, alumni, and concerned citizens to urge new president Minouche Shafik to improve the university’s speech policies.
University presidents wield substantial power to promote — or limit — free expression on college campuses. The president of Columbia University in New York City is no exception; from the moment she took office on , President Shafik inherited the challenge of protecting student and faculty free speech at an institution which — despite adopting the Chicago Statement on Freedom of Expression — maintains restrictive speech codes and in ֭’s .
Columbia University
New York, NY
FIRE gives Columbia University a “yellow light” speech code rating. Yellow light colleges and universities are those institutions with at least one ambiguous policy that could too easily be applied by administrators in an abusive or arbitrary manner to restrict free speech. Columbia maintains four of these policies.
Furthermore, Columbia is the only institution surveyed in ֭’s free speech rankings to earn an “Abysmal” speech climate rating. Columbia scores particularly poorly in categories related to (1) student support for the use of disruptive conduct to shut down speakers on campus, and (2) students’ lack of comfort expressing their thoughts to professors and peers.
One student talked about their fear of in-class debate, stating: “When students become very emotionally involved in a class discussion, I feel that it would be dangerous to argue for the other side even if that's encouraged in class.”
As an adopter of the Chicago Statement, which FIREconsiders to be the gold standard for an institutional commitment to free expression, Columbia is obligated to defend and uphold speech rights for its students and faculty. One way to put its promise to protect free expression into practice is to reform restrictive policies in ways that satisfy various campus imperatives while also respecting free speech promises and principles.
Starting today, in calling for President Minouche Shafik to reform restrictive speech policies at Columbia.
Recent Articles
FIRE’s award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali will not submit
Podcast
Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up in a culture of conformity. She was beaten and mutilated. She was told who she must marry. Eventually, she rebelled. "You don't speak up at first," she told us. "First you leave and you find a place of safety. It's...
FIREstatement on congressional leaders smuggling unconstitutional Antisemitism Awareness Act into a must-pass defense bill
149 days and counting! Will the White House grant a posthumous pardon in the D.M. Bennett Case? — First Amendment News 447
