Articles
- 04.Jan
- A 2011 Harvard Retrospective
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Harvard has been around longer than the government of the United States—140 years longer—making it the oldest continuous institution founded in the country. Harvard not only teaches American history—it has long produced educated men and women who have helped create American history. While many wonderful traditions still abound at the most famous of American universities, a new one has developed which can erode any university’s fundament, and runs counter to the school’s stated purpose. Two events this year—one involving freshmen students, the other a longtime faculty member—remind us that despite the pursuit of “Veritas,” Harvard remained in 2011 among the vanguard of the politically correct, embracing a cynical suppression of speech and academic discourse in favor of dishonestly built ideas of comfort.
- 03.Jan
- A Roundup of 2011’s Student and Faculty First Amendment Case Law
FIRE’s Robert H. Jackson Legal Fellow Andrew Kloster takes a look back at the biggest cases of 2011 and examines what these decisions mean for the legal landscape on campus.
- 09.Sep
- Amending ‘Christian Legal Society v. Martinez’: Protecting Expressive Association as an Independent Right in a Limited Public Forum
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In this article for the ‘Texas Journal on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights’, Erica Goldberg argues that the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in ‘Christian Legal Society v. Martinez’ fails to provide sufficient protection to freedom of association on university campuses. Erica proposes that the Court should have held that the First Amendment right to freedom of expressive association protects the ability of belief-based student organizations to make decisions about membership based on belief, but not immutable status.
- 02.Jun
- FIRE’s ‘One Trick’: Protecting Civil Liberties
FIRE Director of Legal and Public Advocacy Will Creeley responds to recent criticism of FIRE’s efforts on behalf of individual rights on campus. Answering a blog entry written by Rick Olshak, Dean of Students of Illinois State University, Creeley defends FIRE’s position as a respected civil liberties advocate and provides a thorough justification for our opposition to newly proposed guidelines for adjudicating campus sexual harassment and assault cases put forth by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
- 23.Dec
- Hayden Barnes’ Victory in Federal Court, Currently on Appeal to the Eleventh Circuit, is a Major Story to Follow in 2011
In September 2010, a federal district court denied the defense of qualified immunity to former Valdosta State University (VSU) President Ronald M. Zaccari, ruling that public college administrators who knowingly violate the constitutional rights of students should be held liable for doing so. In this piece, FIRE’s Azhar Majeed writes that the case, on appeal before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, merits close observation in the coming year, as it could set a major precedent in defense of student rights on campus.
- Articles Archive
Reports
- 28.Oct
- Standard of Evidence Survey: Colleges and Universities Respond to OCR’s New Mandate
FIRE has compiled a survey of the standards of evidence employed by the nation’s top colleges and universities in an effort to gauge the impact of the new requirements announced by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). FIRE’s survey demonstrates that OCR’s requirement will have a significant impact on university judicial processes.
- 24.Oct
- FIRE’s Exclusive Interview with Flemming Rose, Editor Behind Censored Mohammed Cartoons
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On September 24, 2009, FIRE interviewed Flemming Rose, cultural editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, about the censorship by Yale University Press of the controversial Mohammed cartoons he commissioned in 2005 to be published in his newspaper as an exercise of freedom of expression. The cartoons and several other previously uncontroversial images of Mohammed were removed from the book about the cartoons themselves, The Cartoons That Shook the World, in a widely criticized exercise of cowardice in the face of nonexistent threats.
- 10.Feb
- Brandeis: Still Abusing A Professor
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Minding the Campus posted this incisive examination of recent events at Brandeis University authored by FIRE co-founder Harvey Silverglate and Director of Legal and Public Advocacy Will Creeley. Silverglate’s and Creeley’s article takes Brandeis University President Jehuda Reinharz to task for his handling of both the Rose Art Museum fiasco and the case of Professor Donald Hindley.
- Reports Archive
Statements
- 09.Nov
- Policy Statement on Political Activity on Campus 2012
As the 2012 election season begins, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is reminding college students and faculty across the nation of their right to engage in political speech on campus. FIRE has released an updated and expanded Policy Statement on Political Activity on Campus detailing the protection for political expression enjoyed by students and faculty at public and private colleges nationwide.
- 15.Oct
- Policy Statement on Political Activity on Campus
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In recent years, political speech on our nation’s campuses has come under sharp attack. FIRE has investigated open and blatant attacks on political expression at colleges and universities across the country, from a previously unreported case at Oklahoma, to better-known cases at Illinois and Texas, to cases at other schools nationwide. This alarming trend towards silencing political expression prompted FIRE to release a Policy Statement on Political Activity on Campus.
- 07.Oct
- Comment from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education on the “Declaration on Freedom of Expression and Inquiry at Tufts University”
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The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is pleased that Tufts University has decided to renew its commitment to freedom of expression. Unfortunately, the draft “Declaration on Freedom of Expression and Inquiry at Tufts University” fails to adequately protect freedom of expression at Tufts and will, in all likelihood, invite more censorship and uncertainty while discouraging robust debate, candor, and dissent.
- Statements Archive