George Mason University earns green light speech code rating from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

I'm pleased to formally note that after revising its policies on the scope of permitted speech and academic freedom, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has announced that George Mason University has earned a green light rating from FIRE, meaning that it has no formal rules or restrictions that improperly limit free speech or academic freedom. I want to thank the members of the George Mason staff and community for their dedicated efforts in helping to bring about this happy result. Some will remember my column that I wrote for the Pope Center in February that described my earlier efforts on this front and I'm pleased that we've had a happy resolution of the issue.

According to FIRE's press release, George Mason is one of only 20 universities in the United States that currently holds a green light rating (out of some 400 that are rated). I'm not sure whether to be proud or dismayed by that statistic.

PS: Some readers will probably realize that I briefly mentioned this yesterday before realizing that I had jumped the gun in announcing it before FIRE had formally announced it. My apologies to FIRE for the premature announcement.