E&W Blog

Today, the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development held a hearing to examine how college campuses have increasingly become a battleground for the First Amendment. 

Subcommittee Chairman Burgess Owens (R-UT) opened the hearing by highlighting how censorship is creating conformity and violence on campuses.

“This mission is becoming increasingly urgent as students report increasing intolerance to views that differ from their own…This trend toward intolerance has serious implications for higher education, as well as for the well-being of our republic and our nation’s role in the world. We saw that just this weekend with yet another attempted assassination of President Trump and his cabinet. Sadly, in my state of Utah, we saw this when Charlie Kirk was murdered,” he said. 

Colleges should challenge students—not shield them—by exposing them to a wide range of perspectives. 

Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC) discussed with Mr. Tyson Langhofer, Senior Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, how colleges and universities often use unconstitutional practices to recognize and fund student groups. 

“My client just wanted to pay $500 to a speaker to speak on a pro-life issue on campus [and was denied]…other organizations got $300,000…that’s not fair, and it’s unconstitutional…we were able to vindicate their rights in court but it wasn’t in time for students who sought it, to actually use it,” Mr. Langhofer said.

Public colleges and universities have a legal obligation to uphold the First Amendment, yet enforcement is often inconsistent or biased.

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) asked witnesses how lessened free speech protections are driving more students to self-censor. 

“There are surveys showing students report having to misreport their beliefs on campus. Our surveys do show that students self-censor in the classroom and they self-censor on their assignments. They tend to worry about reactions they will get from their peers but also from their professors," said Dr. Steven McGuire, Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom at American Council of Trustees and Alumni. 

Without strong First Amendment protections, campuses risk becoming places of conformity rather than engines of critical thinking and civil debate.

Rep. James Moylan (R-GU) asked Mr. Jud Horras, President and CEO at North American Interfraternity Conference, about the larger impact of attacks on students’ right to exercise their freedom of association. 

“When we do these mass suspensions, not only is it interfering with their speech and association rights, it’s actually discouraging students from reporting other bad behavior…If I turn myself in or others and the entire community is shutdown that peer pressure is actually counter to safety and health,” Mr. Horras explained. 

Bottom line: Too many universities have abandoned their mission to encourage students to think for themselves. Committee Republicans are working to hold colleges accountable and to protect students’ First Amendment rights, ensuring that higher education remains a place where ideas can be tested, challenged, and debated openly.