For years, as Americans—and even as Boston College students—it has felt increasingly difficult to find something that unites us. But we often overlook a unifying cause foundational to the United States: freedom of expression. As a former columnist for The Heights, I wrote a column in 2023 titled “Navigating Political Discourse and Encouraging Constructive Conversations,”…
The College Democrats of Boston College, a registered student organization on campus, was barred from publicly endorsing and phone banking for Kamala Harris by University administrators five days before the 2024 presidential election, according to emails obtained by The Heights.
In a letter to University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) condemned Boston College’s demonstration policies for violating First Amendment principles, urging the University to eliminate its requirement that speeches and chants be pre-approved prior to demonstrations.
Boston College administrators required organizers of a Feb. 13 pro-Palestinian demonstration to revise and remove portions of their speeches, disclose speakers’ identities, and refrain from using amplified sound and “public facing” advertising before granting approval to demonstrate on campus, according to email exchanges obtained by The Heights.
Boston College placed 189th out of 257 colleges in the 2025 College Free Speech Rankings released by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
Boston College earned the lowest possible rating for campus free speech policies in a new report by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a free speech and expression advocacy group.
Boston College needs to ease its policies and restrictions on student demonstration to better support its students’ free speech rights.
I found it a curious sign of our times that when I emailed the former president of the Boston College Republicans, a student group on campus, to invite an interview to speak on free speech and other issues, their president, Thomas Sarrouf, expressed hesitancy.
It was not an unexpected response. I suppose I may be the sort of person to whom they would be wary of speaking with.
The BC chapter of the American Association of University Professors hosted a virtual forum, welcoming Melnick, Lindsey O’Rourke, Kent Greenfield, and Patricia Lowe to discuss academic freedom and campus speech on Tuesday evening.
R. Shep Melnick—the Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. professor of American politics—recently submitted an op-ed to The Heights titled “Our Free Speech Problem.” In his op-ed, Melnick observes the “disturbing” reality that “too many students are afraid to discuss controversial topics, and a significant minority think they are justified in preventing those they disagree with from…
