On Columbia’s current free speech climate and our call to alumni so Columbia can thrive.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s (FIRE) Speech Code Ranking is a comprehensive comparison of the student experience of free speech on campuses. It is based on the feedback of 55,000 currently enrolled students at over 250 colleges. Columbia University received a speech code rating of: Yellow – Abysmal
Colleges with yellow ratings have policies that restrict a more limited amount of protected expression or, by virtue of their vague wording, could too easily be used to restrict protected expression.
Its 2024 survey results highlighted the following (alarming) statistics:
Columbians, we are reaching out to you as alumni who are ready to take a stand against the erosion of free speech, academic freedom, and viewpoint diversity on the Columbia campus; alumni who are dismayed at shout-down protests and violence against speech deemed offensive, faculty disciplined for pedagogical speech that challenges student’s political or cultural beliefs, and a campus culture that intimidates students into silence on controversial topics.
In joining us, you will recieve regular updates and exclusive invitations to our events. This is a call to all alumni regardless of their political views:
(1) Who are united by the vision of Columbia University as a safe haven for the free expression of those views
(2) Who recognize that discomfort and even alarm from exposure to views inimical to one’s own cherished values is an essential part of an education
(3) Who acknowledge that when offense alone is allowed to strike the right to free speech, there is no meaningful right to free speech.
