National Free Speech News & Commentary

Authoritarians in the Academy

Sarah McLaughlin October 15, 2025 1 min read

Sarah McLaughlin
FIRE, The Free Speech Podcast 

Excerpt: FIRE Senior Scholar Sarah McLaughlin discusses her new book, "Authoritarians in the Academy: How the Internationalization of Higher Education and Borderless Censorship Threaten Free Speech."

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Men are more tolerant of the other side than women are of their own

Chapin Lenthall-Cleary October 15, 2025 1 min read

Chapin Lenthall-Cleary
The Eternally Radical Idea

Excerpt: Suppose you’re a controversial left-wing speaker. Who do you think would be more likely to let you voice your opinions on campus: a slightly conservative man or a democratic socialist woman?

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Brown Joins MIT, Rejects Compact

Josh Moody  October 15, 2025 1 min read

Josh Moody 
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: Citing multiple concerns, Brown University on Wednesday rejected an invitation to join the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” that the Trump administration proposed.

Following MIT’s rejection, the Trump administration said the compact was open to all colleges. But of the original nine invitees, there are no takers so far, though officials at the University of Texas system have indicated they view the proposal favorably. The system’s flagship in Austin was part of the nine.

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Harvard Must Take a Stand Against Trump’s Compact

Ryan D. Enos and Steven Levitsky October 14, 2025 1 min read

Ryan D. Enos and Steven Levitsky
Harvard Crimson 

Excerpt: The Trump administration’s authoritarian offensive is accelerating.

It is now openly persecuting opponents, bullying media to silence critics, and sending masked security forces to terrorize cities, and the president recently told top military commanders to prepare to fight the “enemy from within.”

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M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment

Vimal Patel October 14, 2025 1 min read

Vimal Patel
New York Times

Excerpt: M.I.T. became the first university to reject an agreement that would trade support for the Trump administration’s higher education agenda in exchange for favorable treatment.

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From the Community | We must refuse the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education’

Opinion by From the Community October 14, 2025 1 min read

Opinion by From the Community
Standford Daily

Excerpt: The Trump administration’s new “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” is a trap.

Presented last week to a group of nine universities that doesn’t yet include Stanford, the compact proposes a list of policy changes the administration hopes universities will agree to in exchange for preferential access to federal grants. Several of the proposed reforms respond to legitimate concerns about higher education and identify real challenges that elite universities have faced in recent years. As White House advisor May Mailman put it, “Our hope is that a lot of schools see that this is highly reasonable.”

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