As Olivia Strong reported in a Heights article last semester, Boston College fared extremely poorly in the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) ranking of free speech on campus—151th out of the 159 colleges included in the survey. Our ranking in this widely disseminated study is embarrassing. Far more disturbing, though, is what the…
In early October, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), in conjunction with College Pulse and RealClearEducation, released a report ranking the free speech climate at American colleges. Boston College, a university unaccustomed to finding itself at the bottom of rankings, was ranked 151 out of 154, with a total of 159 schools surveyed.
“This is because the snowflakes at BC aren’t college students. They’re administrators.”
“There’s so much that colleges and universities can do, so as to make sure that it’s an inclusive community for all students,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.
“In the Twentieth century, radical leftists were ostracized, but today, people target anyone from a moderately right leaning politician to a classical libertarian.”
“Yet, time and time again, campus conservatives do exactly what they accuse the left of doing: silencing people’s right to speak.”
“In today’s starkly divided America, such mutual understanding and capability for communication is essential for bridging the gaps that exist between us.”
“We all deserve the right to voice our opinions. Forcing students to get approval for demonstrations is effectively censoring us, and we need spaces that are available for everyone to voice their ideas.”
“Shifting the focus from conflicts regarding conduct policy to conversations about issues such as racial equality on campus represents the first step in returning to a productive relationship between student activism groups and the BC administration.”
The Faculty for Justice have endorsed a list of proposals initially compiled by the Undergraduate Government of BC, which pushed for a revamped free expression policy on campus. This list was discussed at the event.
