National Free Speech News & Commentary

The Manhattan Statement on Higher Education

Christopher F. Rufo  July 17, 2025 1 min read

Christopher F. Rufo
City Journal

Excerpt: America’s colleges and universities have long been the bright lights of our civilization. For nearly four centuries, they have pioneered new fields of knowledge, brought the arts and sciences to new heights, and educated the men who built our republic. But over the past half-century, these institutions gradually discarded their founding principles and burned down their accumulated prestige, all in pursuit of ideologies that corrupt knowledge and point the nation toward nihilism.

Now, the truth is undeniable. Beginning with the George Floyd riots and culminating in the celebration of the Hamas terror campaign, the institutions of higher education finally ripped off the mask and revealed their animating spirit: racialism, ideology, chaos.

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The Canceling of the American Mind — with Greg Lukianoff

Greg Lukianoff with Scott Galloway July 17, 2025 1 min read

Greg Lukianoff with Scott Galloway
Prof G Media 

Excerpt: Greg Lukianoff, a free speech advocate, first-amendment attorney, and president of FIRE, joins Scott to break down the rise of cancel culture and its chilling effect on free speech.  They discuss why social media supercharged censorship, how college campuses became ground zero for speech suppression, and why younger generations may be more fragile and less free.

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Commentary: Anti-Semitism Gets the DEI Treatment

Rose Horowitch July 17, 2025 1 min read

Rose Horowitch
The Atlantic

Excerpt: To do the same thing over and over and expect a different result is one definition of insanity. According to Robert Shibley, a special counsel of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), it’s also Columbia University’s approach to addressing anti-Semitism on campus.

On Tuesday, Claire Shipman, Columbia’s acting president, announced in an email to the community that the university would take several steps to quell anti-Semitism on campus. Columbia will appoint Title VI and Title VII coordinators to review allegations of discrimination. It will launch new programming around anti-Jewish discrimination, send out regular messages affirming its zero-tolerance policy on hate, and use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism for certain disciplinary proceedings.

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A Harvard Settlement Could Endanger Academic Freedom Nationwide

Jennifer Lundquist and the Stand Together for Higher Leadership Team July 16, 2025 1 min read

Jennifer Lundquist and the Stand Together for Higher Leadership Team
Academe Blog

Excerpt: I, along with the undersigned leaders of Stand Together for Higher Ed, a national faculty-led movement to defend US higher education, are deeply concerned by reports that Harvard University is engaged in negotiations with the Trump administration to settle ongoing legal disputes. While negotiation is not inherently wrong, in this case it risks setting a dangerous precedent for faculty governance, academic freedom, and institutional autonomy across higher education. All eyes have been on Harvard’s lawsuit because its outcome will shape these values for the rest of us.

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Knight Institute Sounds Alarm Over New Restrictions On Campus Speech

Press Release July 16, 2025 1 min read

Press Release
Knight First Amendment Institution, Columbia University 

Excerpt: Multiple universities have recently announced that they will consider or rely on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA’s) definition of antisemitism in policing speech on campus. 

The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. “It’s disappointing that some of the nation’s leading institutions of higher education are agreeing to curtail and punish criticism of Israel in the name of fighting discrimination. As major free speech groups have recognized, using the IHRA definition of antisemitism to delineate the outer boundaries of free speech will have the effect of proscribing or deterring legitimate political speech and scholarship."

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Columbia Reportedly On Verge of Settlement With Trump

Susan H. Greenberg July 14, 2025 1 min read

Susan H. Greenberg
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: Columbia University is preparing to strike a deal with the Trump administration, taking steps to address alleged civil rights violations on campus in exchange for the release of $400 million of withheld federal funds, The Wall Street Journal and CNN reported. 

According to the Journal, the university is in discussions with the administration to pay out roughly $200 million, some of which would go to the government and some to students and professors who allegedly have had their rights violated.

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