WHILE I TRY TO AVOID PUBLICLY CRITICIZING OTHER NONPROFITS, I recently made an exception to that rule to raise awareness that the once-great AAUP has not only failed in its mission to defend academic freedom but, in fact, is a threat to both free speech and academic freedom.

HERE LIES THE AAUP: A once-great org that abandoned its principles in favor of partisan expediency.

HOW THE ONCE-GREAT AAUP became an actual threat to both academic freedom & free speech.

LESSON #2 ON HOW TO MAINTAIN A GENUINELY NON-PARTISAN NON-PROFIT: Make sure your staff is actually politically diverse. It may sound like a no-brainer, but very few non-profits actually do this.

SCHOOLS MUST RECRUIT SCHOLARS NOT ACTIVISTS: In order for the ship of higher ed to right itself, admins must rediscover its purpose: the production of knowledge.

WORDS ≠ VIOLENCE: Anyone who’s ever been punched in the face knows this all-too-well, but unfortunately, according to new data, 8 in 10 Americans have confused the two.

BE WILLING TO DRIVE THE BUS INTO A WALL: Part 1 in a short series of lessons I’ve learned as President of FIRE.

NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL ERI: In honor of the 1st birthday of The Eternally Radical Idea newsletter, here’s a look back at some of our greatest hits.

HOW TIM WALZ GOT FREE SPEECH VERY WRONG AT THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: There is no hate speech exception, government must not be the arbiter of truth, and you CAN shout fire in a crowded theater.

And to make that last point clear, here is a helpful video from FIRE:

STUDENTS LOOK TO REPORT PROFESSORS FOR WRONGTHINK: The results of a recent survey conducted by NDSU’s Challey Institute reinforce the “conformity gauntlet” (layer upon layer of conformity-inducing pressures that make matriculating through — or, god forbid, attempting to find employment in — higher ed a living nightmare for ideological dissenters) from The Canceling of the American Mind.

TODAY’S MY 50TH BIRTHDAY: I’ve been at FIRE for almost half my life, and it’s been so incredible to see our little team grow to become the nation’s premier free speech defender! We’re fighting for free speech in the courtroom, the classroom, and in the culture.

• Our team has grown to 115 *incredible* free speech defenders.
• We are nearing ONE MILLION followers on social media and email.
• We have 30 active litigation cases.
• We have secured eight grassroots victories in communities across the country.
• We have helped build 35 alumni organizations to defend free speech on campuses.
• We have had 4 model bills passed in states across the country this year alone.
• We have released the largest report on college free speech EVER!
• We have successfully reformed 31 anti-free speech college policies this year alone.

FIRE has come a long way, but there is still more work to do.

That’s where you come in. Please consider donating to FIRE and join the Free Speech Movement.

Consider it a birthday present to me ;)

STUDENTS ARE CONFUSED ABOUT SPEECH. After decades of administrators censoring opinions they don’t like and supporting the most expansive idea of free speech for those they do, students are unsurprisingly confused. They rightfully made their feelings known in response to FIRE’s survey for our 2025 College Free Speech Rankings.

Top 5 schools:

• UVA
• Michigan Tech
• Florida State
• Eastern Kentucky
• Georgia Tech

Bottom 5:

• Harvard
• Columbia
• NYU
• Penn
• Barnard

And here are five more takeaways from this year’s rankings.

FIRE’S 2025 COLLEGE FREE SPEECH RANKINGS SURVEYED 58,000 STUDENTS ACROSS 257 COLLEGES. One takeaway: A record 55% of students said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is difficult to discuss openly on campus (Yes, I’m sure you’re shocked!). Dig into the data!

FIRE’S 2025 COLLEGE FREE SPEECH RANKINGS ARE OUT! The University of Virginia takes the top spot for the best free speech climate while Harvard remains dead last for the second year in a row. Check out the full rankings.

MY LIST OF THE BEST BOOKS ON FREE SPEECH … EVER! 

AMERICAN EX-PAT CHARGED IN GERMAN COURT FOR CRITICIZING MASK MANDATE: Playwright & novelist C. J. Hopkins was charged with “promoting the tenets of National Socialism” simply for referencing the cover of his book (which depicts a swastika-branded medical mask) in a tweet calling masks “ideological conformity symbols.”

CA COURT UPHOLDS STUDENTS’ RIGHTS TO CONDEMN MURDEROUS COMMUNIST REGIMES: FIRE secures yet another First Amendment legal victory, this time for the Young Americans for Freedom chapter at Clovis Community College when the school’s administration removed their anti-communist flyers and rejected their request to post pro-life flyers, claiming both were “inappropriate or offensive.”

3/3 AIN’T TOO SHABBY: With FIRE’s help, Jeff Gray has now won all three lawsuits against the Georgia cities that violated his First Amendment rights for displaying a “God bless the homeless vets” sign outside their city halls.

CANCEL CULTURE IS BAD EVEN WHEN IT’S YOUR ENEMIES BEING CANCELED, and the definitive case for Rikki Schlott & my definition of cancel culture.

“YOU CAN’T SHOUT ‘FIRE!’ IN A CROWDED THEATER” is such a tedious cliché that First Amendment defenders can’t help but roll our eyes when we hear it. This sketch from FIRE’s legal director, Will Creeley, should clear up some of the most common misconceptions:

ANTI-SEMITISM IN HIGHER ED IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM… but the “Antisemitism Awareness Act” is unconstitutional.

NEVER FORGET JUNE 4, 1989: Zhou Fengsuo, a Tiananmen student leader, reflects on the day that shook the conscience of the free world.