(The Center Square) – UNC Greensboro, Appalachian State and N.C. State cracked the top 10 of the 253 schools analyzed in the largest annual review of free speech for colleges and universities.
All three schools are part of the UNC System and earned a C letter grade, with UNC Greensboro scoring a 74, and Appalachian and N.C. State each a 73. A tick back were East Carolina (14th, 72, C-minus), UNC Chapel Hill (19th, 71, C-minus) and UNC Charlotte (20th, 71, C-minus).
FIRE, the acronym for Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, based the rankings on 68,000 students at 253 colleges and universities.
Claremont McKenna College, in Claremont, Calif., scored an 80 for a B-minus to lead the rankings. Purdue (76, C) and the University of Chicago (76, C) were next. On the other end, Northeastern (47, F), the University of Washington (44, F) and Indiana (44, F) were the bottom three.
For UNC Greensboro’s summary, FIRE wrote in the report, “The university earns a ‘green light’ Spotlight rating, and the University of North Carolina System has formally adopted both the Chicago Statement and institutional neutrality – applying to the Greensboro campus. Student perceptions place UNCG in the top 25 for ‘Comfort Expressing Ideas’ and in the top 50 for perceived ‘Administrative Support,’ but also in the bottom 50 for ‘Political Tolerance’ toward controversial speakers.
“To build on its strong policy foundation, UNCG should implement programming that models dialogue across differences.”
The report says Appalachian’s self-censorship score indicates “many students feel pressure to keep quiet about controversial views. Addressing the gap between policy and practice remains App State’s most pressing challenge.”
The latter is also a knock on N.C. State, according to the report summary of the Raleigh school.
FIRE also included four other Tarheel State schools. Duke (67, D-plus), North Carolina A&T (63, D) and Davidson (60, D-minus) were Nos. 37, 51 and 78, respectively. Wake Forest (55, F) was No. 186.
FIRE bills itself as “nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought. These rights include freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience – the most essential qualities of liberty.”
It works to produce the rankings with College Pulse, a “survey research and analytics company dedicated to understanding the attitudes, preferences, and behaviors of today’s college students.” It has custom “data-driven marketing and research solutions,” utilizing a panel of “850,000 college students and recent alumni from more than 1,500 two- and four-year colleges and universities in all 50 states.”
