Harvard University has been named 2023’s worst school for free speech by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). The organization recently released its annual college free speech rankings, in which it dubbed the state of free speech at the Ivy League school “abysmal.” Harvard’s rating of zero out of 100 is a full 11 points lower than its closest woke rival.
“Harvard is consistently ranked one of the best universities in the United States. But FIRE frequently finds itself in the odd position of giving this all-star academic school failing grades,” FIRE stated in a press release published Wednesday.
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS – APRIL 22: A general view of Harvard University campus is seen on April 22, 2020 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard has fallen under criticism after saying it would keep the $8.6 million in stimulus funding the university received from the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund in response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Harvard received a free speech ranking of zero on a 100-point scale, putting the Ivy League university a full 11 points behind the second worst school.
“What’s more, granting Harvard a score of 0.00 is generous,” the organization added. “Its actual score is -10.69, more than six standard deviations below the average and more than two standard deviations below the second-to-last school in the rankings, its Ivy League counterpart, the University of Pennsylvania.”
And Harvard’s score has been plummeting significantly over the years. FIRE explained that in 2020, the Ivy League institution ranked 46 out of 55 schools, in 2021, it ranked 130 out of 154 schools, and in last year, it ranked 170 out of 203 schools.
This year, Harvard “completed its downward spiral in dramatic fashion, coming in dead last with the worst score ever: 0.00 out of a possible 100.00,” the organization said, adding that this earns the school “the notorious distinction of being the only school ranked this year with an ‘Abysmal’ speech climate.”
As for why Harvard ranked so poorly, FIRE pointed out that the university “has a dismal record of responding to deplatforming attempts — attempts to sanction students, student groups, scholars, and speakers for speech protected under First Amendment standards.”
“Of nine attempts in total over the past five years, seven resulted in sanction,” the organization explained.
From each of these seven sanctions, Harvard was penalized in the rankings for the following incidents:
- From 2019 to this year, Harvard sanctioned four scholars, three of whom it terminated.
- In 2020, Harvard revoked conservative student activist Kyle Kashuv’s acceptance over comments he made on social media as a 16-year-old, for which he had since apologized.
- In 2022, Harvard disinvited feminist philosopher Devin Buckley from an English department colloquium on campus over her views on gender and trans issues.
- In 2019, Harvard was the site of a substantial event disruption when protesters interrupted a joint talk featuring former Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow and Graduate School of Education Dean Bridget Terry Long by occupying the stage and refusing to leave.
FIRE’s rankings also took into account student sentiment about free speech based on polling the organization conducted in partnership with research firm College Pulse.
Harvard has “performed very poorly on a number of the survey-based components of the College Free Speech Rankings, ranking 193 out of 254 on ‘Comfort Expressing Ideas,’ 183 on ‘Administrative Support,’ and 198 on ‘Disruptive Conduct,’” FIRE explained.
Only a quarter of Harvard students reported that they are comfortable publicly disagreeing with their professor on a controversial political topic, the organization added.
Moreover, only about a third think it is “very” or “extremely” clear the administration protects free speech on campus, and a staggering 30 percent think using violence to stop a campus speech is at least “rarely” acceptable, an increase from the 26 percent of Harvard students who felt this way last year.
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