Universities Ranked for Free Speech — Brown University Near Bottom
GoLocalProv News Team
Universities Ranked for Free Speech — Brown University Near Bottom
Brown University got hammered in the annual College Free Speech Rankings from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and College Pulse.
Of the 251 colleges and universities ranked — Brown is ranked 229th.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“The expression climate on American college and university campuses radically changed in fall 2023 with the flaring military hostilities between Hamas and Israel. For instance, in 2023, we recorded 156 deplatforming attempts on American college and university campuses: a record number. Of these attempts, 54 involve a controversy over expression regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This year, as of this writing, we’ve recorded 110 deplatforming attempts, and 75 of them involve a controversy over expression regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” found the report.
The best-ranked was the University of Virginia.
The worst ranked was Harvard University.
SEE HOW THE OTHER RI INSTITUTIONS RANKED AT BOTTOM
Deplatforming
In addition, Brown ranks as one of the worst for “Deplatforming.” This has been an issue at Brown for more than a decade - inviting a speaker and then interrupting or canceling their speech. An incident made global news in 2013.
The study identified 21 schools for more than one successful deplatforming incident and those schools account for 53 of the 102 successful deplatforming attempts (52%) at American colleges.
Harvard University
New York University
Dartmouth College
Syracuse University
University of Houston
University of New Mexico
University of Southern California
Barnard College
Brown University
Indiana University
Pennsylvania State University
San Jose State University
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Davis
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Florida
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of Utah
University of Vermont
Only Georgetown University and the University of Virginia unequivocally defended free expression during more than one deplatforming campaign, and they received multiple bonuses in the rankings for doing so.
Brown Made Global News for Blocking Speaker
An incident at Brown made headlines across the globe in 2013, when officials at Brown University closed a lecture by New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and cleared the auditorium after a massive protest shouted down his speech.
At the time, the newly appointed Brown President condemned the action.
"The actions that led to the closing of this afternoon’s lecture prevented any exchange of ideas and deprived the campus and the Providence community of an opportunity to hear and discuss important social issues,” said Christina H. Paxson, Brown University President. “The conduct of disruptive members of the audience is indefensible and an affront both to civil democratic society and to the University’s core values of dialog and the free exchange of views.”
Her administration issued a report in 2014 which found "that those who planned the talk did not initially expect the maelstrom that would surround Kelly's speech. The committee found that the event title and description provided by Kelly and his staff aroused neither "any reaction or discussion…before adoption." In the week before the lecture, students delivered a petition with signatures from about 300 students, as well as alumni and community members." The report also found that student's feelings were inflamed by the University's decision the previous week to refuse to divest from its stake in the coal industry."
Walkout in 2024
In February 2024, Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, was invited to speak. In the middle of his speech, dozens of students stood up and walked out. It was the latest incident of Brown inviting speakers and students refusing to listen to views that they do not share.
In 2016, a documentary by Brown University grad Rob Montz was released that pointed a highly critical lens at the move by faculty and students to block free speech and ideas they differ with.
"Around the county, college students are silencing speakers in the name of safe spaces. Filmmaker Rob Montz visits his alma mater of Brown University to find out what happened to free speech and debate on campus," writes the promo for the documentary
Other Schools in Rhode Island
The University of Rhode Island was ranked #109.
No other Rhode Island school was listed.