A host of back-to-school resources from the FIRE Student Network!

FIRE is excited to kick off the new academic year with a wealth of resources to help shine a spotlight on bad policies and educate members of your campus community about the importance of student rights. From hosting debates to educating students about their rights, the FIRE Student Network has you covered with the tools you need to make this school year a success.

To get started, take a look at our completely revamped website, a one-stop shop for everything you need to engage in activism this school year. Here, you’ll find over 20 new resources offering educational and practical tips so you can defend and protect civil liberties on America’s campuses. Check out resources on how to evaluate and improve your school’s policies, place an op-ed in the student newspaper on campus, use social media to bolster your activism, and much more. If you need inspiration for what you can do on campus this fall, look no further. We're here to help you protect and defend the rights of all students on campus, from scrubbing unconstitutional policies from your school’s books to ensuring that student’s promised and constitutional rights are honored.

One fantastic way you can engage your campus community is by hosting a debate or debate series on campus. Debates are a great way to show the complexity of an array of topics and, hopefully, help attendees develop a healthy respect and appreciation for “hearing out the other side.” To help you get a debate off the ground on your campus, check out FIRE’s Guide for Creating Your Own Debate Program. From the guide, you’ll learn how to strategically choose debate motions; get ideas for how to obtain speakers to participate in the debate; learn how to manage logistics and marketing; and explore templates for emails and invitations to be sent to speakers.

FIRE is happy to support and empower students on campus who want to host debates, coffeehouse conversations, or other events which explore multiple and diverse viewpoints on campus. To give students the resources to do so, we are making a limited amount of funding available for well-thought-out program proposals. Students can read more about the program rules and submit a proposal via our application form.

For more than a decade, our 15,000-member FIRE Student Network has been at the forefront of the fight for freedom of speech at our nation’s institutions of higher learning. Without the hard work, passion, commitment, and drive of students like you, FIRE’s success would not be possible. If you haven't already, joining the FIRE Student Network is the best way to stay in contact with FIRE, work with us in the future, and take advantage of our many resources. If you need additional resources or advice on how to make an impact at your school, FIRE Student Network staff is here to help. We’d love to hear from you at students@thefire.org.