Correcting Common Mistakes in Campus Speech Policies
Toolkit
This handbook is designed to help university administrators identify and remedy the errors FIRE most often sees when reviewing policies that govern student and faculty speech.
Make your campus a free speech-friendly environment
FIRE’s College Policy Reform team would love to work with you to evaluate and revise your school’s free speech policies and disciplinary procedures. Explore the resources below to learn more about how FIRE can help you to foster a culture of free speech on your campus.
Connect with a College Policy Expert
Protect Free Speech on Your Campus
Resources for college administrators who want to take steps to improve free speech policies and disciplinary procedures on campus.
Speech Code Reports
FIRE’s speech code reports survey speech policies at America’s largest and most prestigious colleges and universities, providing readers with key data on individual schools and national trends.
FIRE’s Model Speech Policies
FIRE’s Model Code of Student Conduct is a guide for college and university administrators for governing student life.
Policy Reform Pamphlet
This pamphlet will walk you through what FIRE’s college Policy Reform team can do to help improve your institution’s policies.
Newsdesk
FIRE’s award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed.
University provosts have bleak outlook on free expression in higher ed
News
College administrators are worried about the trajectory of free speech in higher ed.
Freedom or safety? College admins don’t need to choose.
News
Free speech and a safe campus environment need not conflict. Colleges can safeguard both without compromising either.
BREAKING: New Title IX regulations undermine campus free speech and due process rights
Press Release
New Title IX regulations encourage colleges to violate free speech rights and to eliminate essential due process protections.
FIRE survey shows Judge Duncan shoutdown had ‘chilling effect’ on Stanford students
News
According to a new FIRE survey, conservative students self-censored more often after the shoutdown than before the shoutdown.
FIRE’s 10 common-sense reforms for colleges and universities
In every crisis is an opportunity. As confidence in higher education reaches historic lows and colleges and universities struggle to respond to contentious social and political issues, now is the time for campus leaders to return to first principles and re-establish their institutions as communities devoted to the discovery, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge.
The Chicago Statement: The Gold Standard for Committing to Free Expression
Model Speech Policy
Censorship of protected speech is becoming more frequent on today’s campuses. Speakers are de-platformed, students are silenced. And often, punishment is levied on speakers engaging in expression that is protected by the First Amendment. But what can be done to change that? The Chicago Statement is a free speech policy statement that combats these dangerous trends by reaffirming a university’s commitment to free speech and free expression on campus – whether you're teaching, researching, protesting, or learning. It is the gold standard for committing to free expression.
Due Process on College Campuses
FIRE Guide to Due Process and Campus Justice
Resource
FIRE’s Guide to Due Process and Campus Justice provides information about the appropriate and inappropriate methods by which university administrators and student judicial panels address issues of academic misdeeds and behavioral misconduct.
Due Process Reports
Policy Spotlight
FIRE analyzes disciplinary procedures at 53 top-ranked colleges and universities and rates them based on 10 fundamental elements of due process.
Additional Resources
Spotlight on Speech Codes 2024
Reports
FAQ: Institutional Neutrality and the Kalven Report
Issue Pages
2024 College Free Speech Rankings
College Free Speech Rankings
Chicago Statement
Statements & Policies
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