Harvard ranked worst for free speech, scores zero out of 100.
Harvard University (Twitter screenshot)
Harvard University has been deemed the worst college in the country for free speech, according to a report released on Wednesday.
“Harvard University came in dead last with the lowest score possible, 0.00, more than four standard deviations below the mean,” according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s latest College Free Speech Rankings. These rankings evaluate colleges annually based on their tolerance of free speech. The foundation ranked 248 schools and placed Harvard at the bottom, giving it an “abysmal” rating.
The report highlights that Harvard experienced nine attempts to deplatform scholars between 2019 and 2023, resulting in sanctions imposed by the administration, including the revocation of a speaking invitation. Harvard consistently ranks in the bottom quartile of the foundation’s annual rankings.
“Thus, while alarming, Harvard’s dismal performance this year is not an aberration,” states the executive summary of the report.
Overall, the report found that 63 percent of college students believe it is acceptable to engage in “shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking on campus.” Even among the top five schools for free speech in the foundation’s rankings—Michigan Technological University, Auburn University, the University of New Hampshire, Oregon State University, and Florida State University—only 45 percent of students said shouting down a speaker is “never acceptable.”
Harvard has recently made headlines for prioritizing social justice over scholarship.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in June that declared race-based college admissions unconstitutional, the university hinted that it would still consider race in deciding student admissions. In July, Harvard Law professor Mark Tushnet collaborated with San Francisco State professor Aaron Belkin to write an open letter urging President Joe Biden to “restrain MAGA justices” on the Supreme Court.
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