Zach Greenberg, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), reports that Collin College, which has a reputation as the "epicenter of censorship in Texas," made the list again. It is joined by Hamline University in Minnesota, which fired an art history professor for showing a medieval depiction of Muhammed in class.
"[She was] fired [and] not rehired because a person in the class was offended, despite the syllabus and many warnings by the professor that it would be shown," Greenberg details.
All of the schools refused FIRE's requests that they correct their violations.
"We always give schools the option to come clean, to rectify the rights violations," Greenberg asserts. "We always ask for a response and encourage them to do the right thing, and the schools on this list chose not to."
According to FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff, "Since 2020, we’ve seen an upswing in campus censorship unlike anything I've encountered in my 22-year career. You'd think they'd eventually run out of students and professors to censor, but no such luck in 2022. Fingers crossed for 2023."
In addition to its detailed list of the 10 worst college campuses for free speech, FIRE awarded the highest lowest honor, the "Lifetime Censorship Award," to Georgetown University for its longstanding commitment to censorship — of everyone from an incoming libertarian lecturer to students campaigning for Bernie Sanders.
