ASU establishes Center for Free Speech, will host annual free speech forum
Photo by Samantha Chow/ASU
Editor’s note: This story is featured in the 2024 year in review.
Arizona State University is establishing a new Center for Free Speech to encourage the uninhibited exchange of ideas, and the university will launch an annual free speech forum that will begin in spring 2025.
With students from all 50 states and more than 150 countries, ASU’s students, alumni, faculty, staff and visitors come from virtually every background and walk of life, and hold a wide variety of beliefs and opinions.
“Universities have an important role to play in free speech, and ASU has a responsibility to lead in bringing people together around this shared value,” ASU President Michael Crow said. “We intend to help advance the collective understanding about what freedom of speech means within the context of a democratic society.”
ASU welcomes, practices and studies free speech in what Crow calls “a vibrant and active community of thinkers and learners.” The university has a long-standing commitment to free speech, a fundamental right defined by the United States Constitution in the First Amendment and a foundational principle of American democracy.
ASU was just recognized as a top school for free speech by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and College Pulse in the latest College Free Speech Rankings.
Related: A top university for free speech
The largest report of its kind, the College Free Speech Rankings places ASU among the top 15 nationwide and No. 8 among top-tier research universities. Read more.
The university ranked 14th among the top 25 schools, ahead of the University of Chicago, Duke University and Purdue University. The largest report of its kind, the rankings draw from more than 58,000 student responses representing more than 250 colleges and universities nationwide. The survey was fielded from Jan. 25 through June 17, 2024.
ASU’s commitment to free speech was used as a standout example in the 64-page FIRE report and rankings, showcasing a standard of “High Honors” for its public response to speech controversy. The report recorded 14 instances, two at ASU, of schools supporting free expression in response to a student sanctioning attempt.
FIRE also has given ASU a “green light” rating since 2011 for its speech-related policies — the highest rating available in the organization’s Speech Code Rating System. And in 2018, ASU formally adopted the Chicago Principles, a commitment articulated by the University of Chicago to “free, robust and uninhibited debate.”
“Protection and preservation of freedom of speech in a public university environment, while important, is not enough,” Crow said. “We need greater understanding of the balance of equal rights within a community, a balance that seeks active discourse and the fearless inclusion of voices — all voices — through interactions that challenge beliefs and opens eyes to new perspectives.”
Those principles, coupled with a gift to the university from Don and Leslie Budinger, have resulted not only in the new center, but also in a new signature initiative, the annual ASU Free Speech Forum. The forum will engage students, faculty and the broader community and bring in national speakers on free speech.
“It doesn’t matter where you fall socioeconomically or politically, the right to freedom of expression is essential to your conduct as citizens living in a democracy,” Don Budinger said. “No matter who you are or where you come from, your moment will come. And it is in those moments where we discover that the right to express ourselves freely is something we share as Americans, and we are obligated to defend it, whether or not we agree with what is being said.”
The ASU Free Speech Forum will focus on that shared responsibility.
Updated Free Speech at ASU website
The website provides resources for students, faculty and staff in one consolidated location, including:
- How student organizations can participate in expressive activities on campus.
- Guidelines for political engagement by public employees.
- Ways for student groups to reserve outdoor spaces on campus.
- Links to specific policies and processes, including Student Advocacy and Assistance, through the Dean of Students, and the Arizona Board of Regents Code of Conduct.
Learn more at freespeech.asu.edu.
“Through this forum, we will welcome many voices to engage in open, intensive and thoughtful dialogue about the place of free speech in higher education and in our democracy,” ASU Executive Vice President and University Provost Nancy Gonzales said. “Through presentations, brainstorming, keynote speakers and panel discussions led by a rotating free speech faculty fellow, we will maintain focus on this important topic and encourage deeper and broader community engagement.”
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