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Dear Friends and Supporters:

During my tenure as president of ��֭����, we have expanded our staff, reached out to more students, professors, and supporters than ever, and brought ��֭����’s impact on individual rights in higher education to an unprecedented level of national prominence. My tenure, but not these revolutionary and positive changes, will end on December 31.

I have recently decided to leave both FIREand Philadelphia to return to law practice in my wife’s home state of Tennessee. I will continue to serve as an active member of ��֭����’s Legal Network, as I have since its inception, and I have also taken steps to enlist in the United States Army Reserve as a Judge Advocate General officer. I intend to join the Army Reserve for the same reason I joined ��֭����’s Legal Network and then its full-time staff: to defend the freedoms for which millions have fought, bled, and died.

My views on foreign policy are of course my own, not ��֭����’s. But this is a personal message from me, and so I feel I should explain what may seem a puzzling decision. In short, I have come to believe that during a struggle that I see as vitally important, I have a duty to serve my country as members of my family have since the Revolution. Since that belief has spurred me to begin the process of enlisting, it would be impractical for me to continue as ��֭����’s president.

FIRE’s outstanding work will continue without interruption and without any drop-off in intensity or effectiveness because of ��֭����’s impressive full-time staff of 12. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, FIREcontinues to grow. We are defending more students and professors and intervening at more universities than ever before. We are receiving a record number of case submissions—60 complaints in October alone—and our educational outreach efforts are expanding at a geometric rate. There have been 100,000 downloads of ��֭����’s Guides, we have 200,000 monthly visits to ��֭����’s website (a 300 percent increase from a year ago), and so far this year, news stories about ��֭����’s work have reached hundreds of millions of readers, listeners, and viewers. But these numbers do not capture the sense of hope that FIREhas brought to campuses across the country. Simply put, there is an answer to the repression and ideological intolerance of the modern university. With ��֭����’s resources and expertise, a student or professor can fight—and win—against the most prestigious and powerful educational institutions. Liberty can prevail.

I will stay at FIREfor the remainder of the year while FIREinitiates a national search for my successor—for a person who can lead FIREto the next level of cultural influence. I am profoundly grateful to ��֭����’s cofounders Alan Charles Kors and Harvey Silverglate, to the members of ��֭����’s Board of Directors, and to the members of ��֭����’s Board of Advisors for the opportunity to lead ��֭����. I am touched by how ��֭����’s friends and supporters embraced me from the very first moments of my presidency and thank all of you.

There would not be a FIREwithout you. Your continued support will sustain the cause of liberty on campus.

Warm regards,

David French, President
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (��֭����)