The Boston Globe, September 2025
Many Boston-area universities, including Northeastern University and Harvard University, earned a failing grade in an evaluation of free speech on their campuses, according to a report from a free speech advocacy group. A record-high percentage of surveyed students said it’s acceptable to shout down a speaker, block entry to a campus speech, or use violence to stop a campus speech, according to the report from The Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression, which was published the day before Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on a Utah college campus.
Other Boston-area schools, such as Wellesley College and Boston University, were among the 166 schools out of the 257 surveyed that received a failing score. MIT fared slightly better with a D minus. “The most notable and maybe concerning results are the national trends for political tolerance, … which is at its lowest levels,” said Sean Stevens, the chief research advisor at The Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE.)
The study gained traction after Kirk’s death as debates over the limits of free speech have played out on campuses, in the media, and on late-night television shows. In the report, FIRE said its findings “reveal a bleak picture” and “should continue to raise alarm.”
