National Free Speech News & Commentary

Fulbright Board Resigns Over Political Interference

June 11, 2025 1 min read

Liam Knox
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: All 12 members of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board have resigned over what they say is political interference in the selection process for recipients of the prestigious international grant, according to sources familiar with the program and a letter announcing their resignation Wednesday morning.

The FFSB normally has final say in the selection process, after initial application reviews by the Institute for International Education and host countries’ Fulbright commissions. This year was different. Inside Higher Ed broke the story last month that Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed State Department officials to intervene in the final stages of the selection process, adding a new step to cull proposals they felt did not comply with President Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders.

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University of Michigan has ended private surveillance contracts but the chill on free speech remains

June 11, 2025 1 min read

FIRE Intern
FIRE

Excerpt: After a news story last week that the University of Michigan was paying private investigators to spy on pro-Palestinian student protesters, the school quickly ended its contracts with the surveillance firm.

Now the university says this Orwellian practice has ended, but the chill on student speech will likely remain for some time.

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Commentary: Are Liberals to Blame for the New McCarthyism?

June 11, 2025 1 min read

Jonathan Chait 
The Atlantic 

Excerpt: The Trump administration is carrying out a brazen crackdown on academic freedom: deporting students for writing op-eds, withholding funds from colleges that defy his control, and justifying it all as a response to anti-Semitism. Who is to blame for this? 

According to one popular theory on the left, the answer is liberals who have consistently supported free speech and opposed Donald Trump.

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Depoliticizing the University: Re-Prioritizing Academic Excellence in Accreditation and Faculty Governance

June 11, 2025 1 min read

Robert Manzer
AEI

Excerpt: Whatever their political persuasion, most observers of American higher education now agree that the real or apparent politicization of universities has become a major problem. Accreditors, the member most responsible for academic quality in the higher education regulatory triad, should be at the forefront, helping universities confront this problem.

Accreditation can most effectively address universities’ politicization by strengthening faculty governance. Faculty play a central role in shaping academic life, and their authority over curricula and standards is well established by tradition and regulation.

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AAUP President Calls for Explanation on UNC–Chapel Hill Tenure Delay

June 10, 2025 1 min read

American Association of University Professors Press Release

Excerpt: As a result of public pressure and significant media attention generated by AAUP members’ collective action, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees voted on June 4 to tenure the remaining thirty-three faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences and professional schools, including the School of Law and the Kenan-Flagler Business School, who had been denied a tenure vote since the May 22 board meeting. 

The board offered no explanation for this unprecedented large-scale delay, which was expected to violate faculty contracts.

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Commentary: Conservatives, Don’t Let Fighting DEI Become a Witch Hunt

June 09, 2025 1 min read

Robert Pondiscio
American Enterprise Institute 

Excerpt: The conservative education watchdog group Defending Education has done important and often brave work exposing ideological overreach in K–12 schools. I’ve cited their reports and findings many times and consider them friends and compatriots, so I don’t say this lightly: they’ve badly misfired with their new report, Consultants in the Classroom: Making Big Money in K–12 Schools. So badly, in fact, that they should withdraw the report and issue a correction and apology.

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