Tulane University finished near the bottom of a new ranking examining how well U.S. universities’ policies promote campus free speech, coming in 156th out of a total of 203 universities studied.
The study released this month by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) ranked Tulane’s policies on free speech below average and in the “red,” meaning that at least one university policy substantially restricts freedom of speech.
The university earned a “red” rating for its internet usage policy, which calls on students to “agree to not intentionally access, transmit, copy or create material that violates applicable laws or the university’s code of conduct (such as messages that are pornographic, threatening, rude, discriminatory or meant to harass),” according to FIRE.
“Tulane ranked poorly on the component measuring tolerance for controversial conservative speakers (135th out of 203),” Sean Stevens, a senior research fellow for FIRE, told the Louisiana Record in an email. “The students surveyed demonstrated a fairly strong bias towards allowing controversial liberal speakers on campus and not allowing controversial conservative ones.”
The university also ranked poorly in the study’s disruptive conduct category, which measures the degree to which students find blocking or shouting down speakers whose views they disagree with. Tulane came in 150th in this category, with less acceptance of such conduct earning universities higher scores.
Tulane did not respond to a request for comment about the study. The university can improve its ranking by revising its restrictive speech policies, and administrators and faculty members can also change the free-speech climate by raising expectations about the importance of the free expression of ideas, according to Stevens.
“Administrators can send letters to incoming students explaining the value of free expression and then reinforce that message through orientation programs and official policy statements to make sure the message lands,” he said. “Faculty can reinforce these messages by how they moderate class discussion and emphasizing that social movements who have successfully advocated for an expansion of civil rights and liberties have been successful because of freedom of speech.”
Among the 45,000 students surveyed for the study nationwide, 42% report that they frequently feel uncomfortable speaking freely while on campus. Among the most difficult topics to discuss on campuses are COVID-19 vaccine mandates, racial inequality and abortion, the report said.
“Many of my classes are not just a majority but all Democrats,” one Tulane student said in the survey. “The teacher asked everyone if anyone was Republican and no one raised their hand. I was the only one, but I didn't raise my hand. Throughout the class, he assumed we were all Democrats, so he spoke openly about supporting Democratic policy on controversial topics.”
Liberals outnumber conservatives at Tulane by nearly 8 to 1, according to the report.