If you are an American who loves free speech, don’t send your kids to Columbia University, because it is the most anti-American school in the nation.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) released its annual survey of freedom of speech for the 2022-23 school season looking at more than 200 colleges and universities, according to the New York Post.
Per the paper:
The University of Chicago came first for campus free speech, scoring 77.92 points out of 100. Four public universities rounded out the top five: Kansas State University, Purdue University, Mississippi State University and Oklahoma State University.
The University of Chicago has been widely celebrated as a champion of free expression since publishing the Chicago Principles in 2014, which stated that, “the University has a solemn responsibility not only to promote a lively and fearless freedom of debate and deliberation, but also to protect that freedom when others attempt to restrict it.” The principles have since been adopted by dozens of other institutions, including Princeton and Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, Columbia University came last and was the only school to be slammed with a Speech Climate rating of “abysmal.” Scoring just 9.91 out of 100, New York City’s Ivy was dragged down by its high number of scholars who were sanctioned for expressing their views. Between 2019-2020, seven academics faced investigation or disciplinary action for tweets or comments deemed unacceptable. Columbia did not immediately respond to The Post for comment.
The University of Pennsylvania was second to last, with a score of 14.32 out of 100. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Georgetown University and Skidmore College also ranked in the bottom five.
“The situation for freedom of speech and academic freedom has been in trouble on campus since before FIRE was founded in 1999,” FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff said in a press release. “That situation has gotten far worse in the last few years.”
“That so many students are self-silencing and silencing each other is an indictment of campus culture,” said FIRE Senior Researcher Sean Stevens added. “How can students develop their distinct voices and ideas in college if they’re too afraid to engage with each other?”
Our fetid, anti-American system of miseducation needs to be torn down and re-built.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston
Tags: Commentary
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