About
Our Mission
The Furman Free Speech Alliance is a non-partisan organization founded by a group of Furman University alumni to make the case for free expression and to protect and promote academic freedom on campus. In so doing, we aim to provide support for students, professors, administrators, and our fellow alumni who speak up for open debate and viewpoint diversity.
The Furman Free Speech Alliance is not affiliated with Furman University.
We join a fast-growing number of alumni at a host of colleges and universities across the country who recognize and are determined to resist the erosion of basic free speech rights at academic institutions.
The core of our mission is to support Furman as an outstanding contributor in the advancement of knowledge driven by a basic and unquestioned dedication to free expression and free inquiry. Furman should attract students because it is widely known to be a home for free speech and an intellectual setting where diverse ideas are respected, indeed encouraged. Where Furman advances these principles it will receive our praise and support; where it diverges from them it will receive our criticism and reminders of why universities exist at all.
Furman is a community, a tight-knit family of outstanding faculty, sharp students, and competent and open administrators. Much of that still exists and is flourishing, but much has also happened over the last several years to divide the community, promote intolerance, and impose a monochromatic intellectual and political culture. And the strongest concerns often now come from the most recent graduates, who say the campus has become unrecognizable to them.
Indeed, what alumni, old or new, would have thought it was necessary, as it was in the Spring 2023, for the university to offer armed police protection for two approved speakers? And who would have thought the administration would remain silent when posters advertising those speakers were defaced or ripped down? You can read about the entire sorry story here.
If, after reading through the materials presented on this website, you agree intellectual freedom is threatened at Furman, or simply want to keep abreast of free speech and viewpoint diversity issues on campus, please join us.
Why subscribe?
Subscribe to get the latest information about free speech at Furman University and learn how you can help reform our beloved alma mater.
Why donate?
Your donation helps us provide support for students, professors, administrators, and our fellow alumni who speak up for open debate and viewpoint diversity.
Join the crew
Be part of a community of people who share your values. Participate in the comments section, or support this work with a subscription.
To learn more about the Furman Free Speech Alliance reach out to us at furmanfreespeech@gmail.com
FFSA Leadership
Board of Directors
Jeff Salmon ‘72
Christian Alexandrou ‘18
Thomas Davis ‘68
Board of Advisors
Ravenel Curry ‘63
John Cline (parent)
The Furman Free Speech Alliance is not affiliated with Furman University.