Campus Free Speech
Mahmoud Khalil Is an Easy Call
The government's stated justification for deporting him is so unconvincing that it must not be allowed to stand.
Professor Can Continue with First Amendment Claim Over Denial of Raise for Including Expurgated Slurs on Exam
The Seventh Circuit so held yesterday; the case also involved other controversial statements besides the expurgated slur.
The Israel-Hamas Conflict Convinced College Adminstrators To Turn Away From Politics, New Report Shows
Just eight colleges had official neutrality policies before the attack. By the end of 2024, it was almost 150.
Mahmoud Khalil, the Great Rorschach Test
Plus: Ukraine attacks Russia with drones, Newsom's revisionist history, and more...
The Case Against Deporting Immigrants for "Pro-Terrorist" Speech [Updated]
It's both unjust and unconstitutional.
Who Is the Palestinian Columbia Student Detained For His Protest Activity?
Several months ago, Reason interviewed Mahmoud Khalil at a protest encampment. Now he’s sitting in ICE detention.
U.S. Attorney Threatens Georgetown Law for 'Teaching DEI'
The law school's dean rejected the letter, arguing the First Amendment "guarantees that the government cannot direct what Georgetown and its faculty teach and how to teach it."
May Government Refuse to Hire Notre Dame Students, Because Notre Dame Teaches and Promotes Anti-Abortion Ideology?
No? Then how can government refuse to hire Georgetown alumni, so long as Georgetown "teach[es] and promote[s] DEI"?
FIRE Files First Amendment Lawsuit Challenging Texas A&M Drag Show Ban
Texas A&M's Board of Regents voted to ban drag shows on the grounds that they objectify women and violate state and federal policies against promoting "gender ideology."
Education Department Clarifies Anti-DEI Guidance
The department insists its directive will not suppress First Amendment rights.
Supreme Court Refuses to Consider Whether University "Bias-Response Teams" Chill Speech
Justice Thomas dissents from the Court's refusal to resolve a clear circuit split.
Why the Internet Celebrated a Killer
Combine moral zealotry with increasingly blurred lines between political speech and violence long enough, and the outcome is predictable.
This UVA Law Student Was Threatened With Expulsion for Sitting Outside With Protest Signs
Kirk Wolff set out to peacefully protest Trump's plan to take over Gaza. Then an administrator and a police officer drove by.
New Episodes of the Academic Freedom Podcast
Conversations on campus free speech with Timothy Zick, Jennifer Ruth, and Michael Berube
"Title VI Must Be Applied Consistent with First Amendment Principles"
A federal district court discusses how the First Amendment limits liability for "hostile environment harassment" based on "speech on matters of public concern" in universities (public or private). And the reasoning may extend to Title VII liability on workplaces as well.
Lawless IV: Leadership Failures Old and New
The pandemic showed the weakness of the leadership class. [UPDATE: Inadvertently posted it under my byline, but it's of course Ilya Shapiro's post, as the byline now reflects. -EV]
Lawless I: The Illiberal Takeover of Legal Education
My "lived experience" at Georgetown gave me a unique perspective on the higher-ed crisis.
Court Rejects Title VI Lawsuit Over Alleged Anti-Semitism at Haverford College
"As a result of Plaintiffs' scattered pleading, any serious allegations of actionable discrimination are buried as needles within a haystack of distraction."
Activists Tried To Cancel a Record Number of Campus Events in 2024
164 events or speakers were targeted, mostly over the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Ohio Legislator Proposes Criminalizing Planting a Flag at Midfield
A new type of sore-loser law.
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"Far from Representing a Powerful Avant-Garde Leading the Way to Political Change, …
the politicized class of professors is a serious political liability to any party that it supports."
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Has Fueled a Surge in Campus Censorship
The portion of college students who say it's OK to shout down campus speakers is rising, according to a new survey.
Court Rejects Claim That Columbia Improperly Suspended Students for Justice in Palestine Chapter
N.Y. law provides for some judicial review of private universities' actions, when a university fails to "adhere[] to its own published rules," thus rendering its "actions were arbitrary or capricious"; but that standard, the court holds, wasn't met here.
On Punishing Speech vs. Punishing Conduct
A university president provides a helpful explanation of the difference.
Musa al-Gharbi: How Woke Elites Became Out of Touch
The Stony Brook sociologist discusses how progressives are having a hard time processing why more and more black and Latino voters are supporting Donald Trump.
Texas Public University Restrictions on Anti-Israel Speech Likely Violate First Amendment
So holds a federal court (correctly, I think), considering restrictions that were prompted by Texas Governor Abbott's General Order GA-44.
Journal of Free Speech Law: "Academic Freedom & the Politics of the University," by Joan Wallach Scott
A new article from the Daedalus (Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences) Future of Free Speech Symposium.
University of Michigan Spent $250 Million on DEI, Made Students Unhappier
"Michigan's D.E.I. expansion has coincided with an explosion in campus conflict over race and gender," notes The New York Times.
UNM Policy Used to Charge High Security Fees for Riley Gaines Talk Struck Down
The case was brought by Turning Point USA over the University of New Mexico's decision to charge over $5K (originally planned to be over $10K).
University of Maryland Sued for Canceling Student 'Expressive Activity' on October 7
The university caved to pressure to target pro-Palestine events.
ABA Standard 208, Law Schools, and the First Amendment
New guidance makes explicit what should have been clear already: Standard 208 obligates law schools to embrace First Amendment principles.
