Press Releases

In Case You Missed It, Fox News ran an exclusive on the Education and the Workforce Committee’s newly released report titled “Freedom of Speech and Its Protection on College Campuses.” The report details how free speech is being stifled in postsecondary education and solutions to protect the First Amendment. 

Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) made the following statement on the report: “Unprecedented attempts to chill the exercising of free speech in postsecondary education have reached an all-time crescendo—the plague of illiberalism has taken root. While headway has been made within the states to enact sensible public policy to preserve the First Amendment rights of students and faculty, more must be done to fend off the corrosive ideology that is cancel culture. This report offers sensible solutions that can right the ship before it’s too late. Contrary to the despotic mantras of colleges and universities that bend at the knee to woke mobs, free expression and thought are not societal ills—and they never will be.”

Congress unveils report that shows 'pervasive degradation' of First Amendment rights on college campuses
By: Kendall Tietz
September 21, 2023

The Freedom of Speech and Its Protection on College Campuses report outlined the House Education and the Workforce Committee findings of First Amendment violations on college campuses throughout the county and provided legislative suggestions to tackle what they described as "growing illiberalism in postsecondary education."

The committee detailed dozens of examples of what congressional Republicans argue are instances of the "pervasive degradation of First Amendment rights on college campuses across the nation" executed by "political activists, woke faculty, and partisan administrators." The report claims these administrators have "established a dangerous trend that threatens students’ constitutionally guaranteed rights and the college education model that should, at its very core, be an open marketplace for all ideas to be heard, free of political bias and agendas."

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Over 60% of students believe the political and social climate on their campus prevents people from freely expressing their opinions, an increase of almost 10% in the past two years, according to a March 2022 survey cited in the report. In addition, 88% of students believe their college should foster environments where students and professors can have respectful dialogue with people whose views differ from their own.

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Specific examples of how the committee said speech is controlled were outlined, including bias reporting systems or bias response teams that often consist of students or school personnel tasked with responding to and reporting on "bias incidents" that include unwanted or disliked speech at the university.

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The threat of being "canceled," socially ostracized or shouted down has led to more than 60% of students to worry that their reputation could be damaged because of something they said, while over 20% of students admitted to self-censorship.

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House Republicans offered potential legislative solutions to further protect expressive rights on college campuses that they believe consider how government power can promote free speech appropriately without infringing on other important rights or "enlarging already bloated bureaucracies."

The report specifically mentioned two pieces of potential legislation, Rep. Greg Murphy's, R-N.C., Campus Free Speech Restoration Act, which condemns universities for compelling students to believe in certain political or social ideologies during the admission process or faculty hiring and Rep. Elise Stefanik's, R-N.Y., Restoring Academic Freedom on Campus Act, which would require all Title IV-funded schools to end the use of political tests in admission, hiring, and promotion processes.

Read the full story HERE.

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