Wilson Report: FIRE Writes to 15 Top Schools to Express Concern About Their Press Policies

On November 10, 2020, FIRE sent letters to 15 top colleges and universities across the country to express concern regarding their restrictive press policies. These letters followed a report published by John K. Wilson of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement (the “Wilson Report”), which gave each of these colleges and universities a grade of a B, C, or F based on policies restricting the press’s ability to film and access areas on campus, speak with faculty and students, and more. In its letters, FIRE argued that restrictive press policies violate these schools’ commitments to the free press rights of journalists and limit free expression. 

FIRE’s letters were sent to: Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, Princeton University, Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Yale University. Following these letters, Northwestern and UC-Berkeley changed their policies to ease restrictions on student press.