FIRE releases new modules for 2021 freshman orientation program

As the end of the current semester quickly approaches, FIRE is already thinking ahead to this fall’s freshman orientation season on America’s college campuses. 

Together with our partners at NYU’s First Amendment Watch, we’re proud to release the latest modules and materials for our freshman orientation program on campus free speech. The program, which debuted in 2020, aims to help college administrators, leaders, and faculty teach incoming students about their free speech rights — as well as how to respect the freedom of expression and academic freedom of their fellow students and professors.

This year’s crop includes:

• A new module on students’ online speech rights and social media use;
• A new module discussing freedom of the student press;
• A “frequently asked questions” document;
• Perhaps most excitingly, a recommended list of summer readings (fiction and nonfiction) for incoming students.

As with last year’s inaugural run of orientation materials, we plan to release video versions of each of the new modules, for use in remote or hybrid first-year experience programs or as part of universities’ First Amendment resources. The 2020 program featured six written modules and their video counterparts, all of which can be found on FIRE’s website and on YouTube, respectively.

We hope our orientation materials will be coming to a campus near you! If you’d like more information, please contact us at orientation@thefire.org.