Many of America’s colleges and universities are in disrepute because they have become so hostile toward freedom of speech. Reasoned argumentation is often stopped by shout-downs, speech codes, and other tactics designed to silence rather than persuade.
But some schools are much better than others at ensuring their students’ freedom of speech. Reagan Allen writes in today’s Martin Center article that, “in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s (FIRE) 2027 College Free Speech Rankings, five North Carolina colleges landed in the top 20 out of 261 campuses nationwide.”
How did they do it? For one thing, UNC schools have done well at ensuring that controversial speakers can appear on campus. North Carolina universities “have hosted speakers and events covering some of the country’s most polarizing issues,” she writes. For example, “in 2026, UNC Chapel Hill hosted Seth Dillon of The Babylon Bee for a talk on political satire and free speech.” A good example of UNC’s commitment to free speech is that UNC-Charlotte did not cave when hundreds of students petitioned to cancel an event where Israeli soldiers spoke about their experiences battling Hamas.
Another successful strategy of the UNC system has been to define academic freedom so as to guard against efforts at silencing controversial speech and teaching. A third success has been to “put free speech commitments in writing.”
Colleges committed to free speech understand that it’s the key to learning.