​Furman Falls 58 Places to 221st out of 251 Schools in FIRE’s Latest Free Speech Rankings

How will the University respond?

This morning, Furman University was included in the College Free Speech Rankings from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Furman was first included in these rankings last year and has dropped from 163rd to 221st place.

Here are a few highlights.

According to data collected by FIRE and College Pulse, a striking 60% of the 114 Furman students surveyed are very or somewhat uncomfortable publicly disagreeing with a professor about a controversial political topic, and just 9% felt very comfortable. 

Fifty-four percent felt very or somewhat uncomfortable expressing views on a controversial political topic in a class discussion and 53% shared these feelings when it came to a written assignment. Only 35% of students say they never hide their political beliefs from their professors to obtain a better grade, whereas 17% of students hide their beliefs daily, and 22% hiding their beliefs occasionally or fairly often.

The majority of students at Furman are self-censoring in the classroom. Does this sound like the “rigorous education with freedoms to speak, write, inquire, listen, challenge, and learn through exposure to a spectrum of ideas” promised by Furman?

But this self-censorship is not only the classroom. Some 45% of students responded that they would feel very or somewhat uncomfortable expressing their views on a controversial political topic to other students “during a discussion in a common campus space such as a quad, dining hall, or lounge.” Seventy-two percent of students felt very or somewhat uncomfortable sharing an unpopular political opinion on social media account tied to their name.

When asked how often students felt they could not express their opinion on a subject “because of how other students, a professor, or the administration would respond,” 36% of students reported this self-censorship occasionally (once or twice a month), 20% self-censor “a couple times a week,” and 7% report that they self-censor nearly every day. Self-censorship in peer conversations is also rampant, with 24% of students doing so weekly, and 28% of students limiting their speech occasionally.

63% of students report some level of self-censorship “because of how other students, a professor, or the administration would respond.”

Furman has promised to prioritize free speech and academic freedom on campus, but this survey indicates they’re getting worse not better. How is the University measuring success? How will they respond?