The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression educated roughly a dozen students and faculty about their First Amendment rights and civil discourse on college campuses at a Thursday event.
FIRE is a non-partisan nonprofit organization founded in 1999 that defends and promotes free speech and free thought on campuses and in courtrooms across the country.
“Its not just about making sure that policies don’t infringe on free speech,” said Ryan Ansloan, a Senior Program Counsel working on FIRE’s Policy Reform team. “It’s about making sure that people understand why civil discourse is the correct approach.”
Ansloan spoke to attendees about their First Amendment rights, explaining that the burden is on the government to justify censorship and punishment.
Regulations cannot restrict speech based on content alone and instead must be narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest, he said.
“The effort to figure out what is true and what is right and engage with people … that is part and parcel of what universities are, and you can’t do that without First Amendment rights,” he said.
Although private universities are not bound by the First Amendment like their public counterparts, many have made promises to respect speech rights, Ansloan said.
To hold these schools accountable, FIRE reviews universities’ policies and rates them as “green light,” “yellow light” or “red light” depending on the degree to which they restrict student expression. Currently, Northwestern holds a yellow speech code rating.
FIRE partnered with six NU clubs — NU Heterodox, NU College Republicans, NU College Democrats, NU Political Union, BridgeUSA NU and NU YAF — for the event, hosted in The Great Room at 600 Haven St.
“We share a similar commitment to preserving freedom of speech and also promoting people’s civil liberties to make sure they are aware of what their rights are on campus and also in the world,” said Medill senior and Bridge NU co-president Jonah Elkowitz.
William Harris, a Program Associate working on FIRE’s Engagement and Mobilization team, highlighted the importance of civil discourse and how best to approach it. After Harris’s talk, students and faculty formed small groups and engaged in civil discourse on topics including taxing carbon emissions and school-choice programs.
Harris asked the audience whether they felt the quote, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” reflected the dominant culture of attitudes on NU’s campus. No one raised their hand.
“I’ve gone across the country this spring giving this workshop, and every room I’ve talked to has had the same reaction,” Harris said. “This is a national trend. It’s a cultural problem.”
That’s where FIRE comes in, Harris said. Working with students is a way to “shift the needle” on free expression.
Harris said although FIRE has organized talks at college campuses since its foundation, this spring is the first time it has offered the specific “Let’s Talk” program format that combines First Amendment training with a civil discourse workshop.
“I hope (attendees) know what their rights are, and how to partner with us to protect those rights,” he said.
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