“The most notable and maybe concerning results are the national trends for political tolerance, … which is at its lowest levels,” said Sean Stevens, the chief research advisor at The Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE.)
The study gained traction after Kirk’s death as debates over the limits of free speech have played out on campuses, in the media, and on late-night television shows. In the report, FIRE said its findings “reveal a bleak picture” and “should continue to raise alarm.”
Harvard, which landed near the bottom of the rankings in the past two years, saw improvements, as FIRE cited high-profile incidents that boosted its score. For example, during President Alan Garber’s Alumni Day speech, an animal activist sprayed gold glitter on him — but Garber finished his remarks and wove in the importance of free speech.
“President Garber seems to have a stronger, positive stance on freedom of speech and defending it than previous administrations,” Stevens said. “We think he’s done a good job.”
He said Kirk’s death may have shifted students’ perspectives and, in the coming years, the percentage of students who found it acceptable to employ tactics for blocking controversial speakers may decline.
“People will have a salient event in their minds today,” Stevens said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this dip next year in response to the event, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
FIRE calculates school rankings based on three components: student survey responses, FIRE’s evaluation of the school’s written policies on free speech, and FIRE’s database tracking schools’ handling of individual free speech controversies.
But some have criticized FIRE for its methodology and pointed out inaccuracies in its database of free speech violations. FIRE said it relies on publicly available information from lawsuits, student newspapers, and social media. Schools are free to reach out if they believe FIRE mislabeled an incident, Stevens said.
Costas Panagopoulos, a professor of political science at Northeastern University, said after reviewing publicly available information about FIRE’s data collection, he felt it was unclear how students were recruited to participate in the study.
“That doesn’t mean that we should dismiss rankings like this entirely as completely incredulous, but it does mean we should probably take the results with a grain of salt,” Panagopoulos said. “It’s likely that there are methodological complications that make [rankings] imprecise.”
In the FIRE report, 43 percent of students said that it was “somewhat clear” that their college administration protects free speech. Thirty-six percent of respondents stated that they would be “somewhat uncomfortable” publicly disagreeing with a professor about a controversial political topic.
Topics considered taboo to discuss openly include the Israel-Hamas conflict, abortion, transgender rights, and the 2024 presidential election, the report said.
Claremont McKenna College topped this year’s ranking with a grade of B minus, meaning FIRE considered it to be the best at promoting free expression. Barnard College was the lowest-ranked school, and Northeastern ranked the fifth-lowest.
Zi Glucksman, a master’s student at Northeastern University, said he was “not totally surprised” that his school was at the bottom of the list. Students are confused about what speech is considered “offensive” in the school’s eyes, he said.
“What is offensive is left up to the university’s discretion,” he said. “More transparency and clarity would be helpful from the university.”
“It’s a time when institutions really need to stand for academic freedom and free expression, so students can fully benefit from the learning and growth that they pursue at Northeastern,” Glucksman added.
On the other hand, Philip Wohltorf, the vice president of Boston University College Republicans, said the school administration has been supportive of dialogue — but it’s the student body that has not been welcoming of conservative viewpoints.
He said students don’t want to debate, and he sees disparaging comments on social media toward Republicans.
“The actual issue is the culture within the student body, rather than the administration,” Wohltorf said. “This political climate is so fueled up and so tough right today that we should debate one another.”
Jessica Ma can be reached at jessica.ma@globe.com.
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