Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) has earned a coveted "green light" rating from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), whose senior program officer, Mary Griffin, explains why most institutions of higher learning are not classified as such.
"Many schools don't take the time to ensure that their policies are either lining up with their First Amendment promises or are even updated in the first place," she tells AFN. "We're always happy to work with institutions to make sure that that's not the case."
In MTSU's case, there were three "yellow light" policies that needed revising.
"They worked on one about violence on campus, one on electronic mail policy, which we see a ton at institutions, and then also their amplified sound guidelines," Griffin reports. "All of those were just revised to meet existing legal standards."
Only 68 colleges and universities across the nation have received FIRE's "green light" rating.
