A 2024 Knight Foundation report found one in four college students think schools need to protect students by banning speech they may find offensive or biased, the largest share of students to answer that way since the survey first asked the question in 2016. 2024 also set a record for the number of attempts to disrupt or disinvite speaker, cancel performances, take down art exhibits and prevent the screening of films on US college campuses, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). What do these competing interests--to encourage student wellbeing and protect free speech on campus--mean for students and administrators trying to strike a balance?

Guests:

Jillian Lederman, Joseph Rago Memorial Fellow at The Wall Street Journal, 2024 graduate of Brown University ( https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/03/opinion/antisemitism-jews-campus.html)

Kaleb Bakari Autman, undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Emma Camp, assistant editor at Reason Magazine, 2022 graduate of the University of Virginia (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/07/opinion/campus-speech-cancel-culture.html)

Steve Bahls, president emeritus of Augustana College (retired in 2022), director of Presidential Mission and Vocation for the Council of Independent Colleges

More 1st Amendment episodes from Top of Mind:

Religious freedom: https://www.byuradio.org/top-of-mind-christian-or-not-unpacking-americas-religious-identity

Free Speech: https://www.byuradio.org/d47c4b86-02d4-4a4d-997b-d1510ba9048b/top-of-mind-with-julie-rose-weighing-the-pros-and-cons-of-free-expression

Free Press: https://www.byuradio.org/68e6b06a-73bb-4a0f-ace8-5f2b55bd066f/top-of-mind-with-julie-rose-can-the-news-be-trusted-americans-arent-too-sure

Links:

2024 Knight Foundation Report on Free Expression: https://knightfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Knight-Fdn_Free-Expression_2024_072424_FINAL-1.pdf

FIRE Databases:  https://www.thefire.org/research-learn?_page=1&keywords=&_limit=6&resource_type=1562