Accomplishments

We have a long way to go, but free speech at Furman is getting better. Below are some of our proudest accomplishments:

• In February 2024, Furman officially adopted a new statement on freedom of inquiry and expression.

• Furman rewrote its speech codes to better protect student speech and move from a “red light” ranking to a “yellow light” ranking by FIRE.

• President Davis publicly acknowledged FFSA’s role as advocates for free expression at a Tocqueville Center event at Homecoming weekend 2025.

• During her 2026 bicentennial address, President Davis declared that: “This is our commitment: Furman is and will be a place where students learn how to think, not what to think. Where they practice listening to perspectives that challenge their own. Where they discover discomfort isn’t danger, and disagreement isn’t disrespect.”

• After sustained advocacy, Furman has eliminated the most egregious aspects of its mandatory DEI hiring statement requirement.

• Following FFSA’s regular publication of campus updates, Furman launched the Dins Digest, a new alumni newsletter that has improved transparency about campus developments.

• Furman launched the On Discourse program in the fall of 2023.