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Red Light, Green Light: How Governing Boards Differ at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression's Lowest- and Highest-Ranked Campuses for Free Speech

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Title: Red Light, Green Light: How Governing Boards Differ at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression's Lowest- and Highest-Ranked Campuses for Free Speech
Language: English
Authors: Nathanial Bork, Robert Maranto, American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
Source: American Enterprise Institute. 2025.
Availability: American Enterprise Institute. 1150 Seventeenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-862-5800; Fax: 202-862-7177; Web site: http://www.aei.org
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 19
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Higher Education, Governing Boards, Freedom of Speech, Reputation, Trustees, College Environment, Organization Size (Groups), Comparative Analysis, Influences, Educational Background, Leadership
Abstract: A free speech recession has taken hold in American higher education, with students and faculty self-censoring at historic rates and professors facing sanctions for controversial views more often than during the height of McCarthyism in the 1950s. Using 2025 free speech rankings of 251 campuses from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, this report examines whether governing boards influence speech climates by comparing institutions with the strongest and weakest free speech protections. This regression analysis of 1,653 board members reveals sharp differences. Public institutions and those outside the Northeast, especially in the South, tend to better support free speech. Shrinking boards, diversifying beyond alumni and business executives, and mandating free speech vetting in leadership hires could reverse the chill on free speech and equip trustees to defend open discourse against administrative overreach. [Funding for this report was provided by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.]
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: ED677929
Database: ERIC
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  Data: American Enterprise Institute. 1150 Seventeenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-862-5800; Fax: 202-862-7177; Web site: http://www.aei.org
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  Data: A free speech recession has taken hold in American higher education, with students and faculty self-censoring at historic rates and professors facing sanctions for controversial views more often than during the height of McCarthyism in the 1950s. Using 2025 free speech rankings of 251 campuses from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, this report examines whether governing boards influence speech climates by comparing institutions with the strongest and weakest free speech protections. This regression analysis of 1,653 board members reveals sharp differences. Public institutions and those outside the Northeast, especially in the South, tend to better support free speech. Shrinking boards, diversifying beyond alumni and business executives, and mandating free speech vetting in leadership hires could reverse the chill on free speech and equip trustees to defend open discourse against administrative overreach. [Funding for this report was provided by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.]
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      – SubjectFull: Freedom of Speech
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      – SubjectFull: Leadership
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