"The way to make campus great again is to reaffirm commitment to free speech, civil discourse, and the encouragement of plural opinions on campus."

In Town Hall Lauren Cooley writes,

I have a college speaking tour called “Make Campus Great Again.” Spoiler alert: the way to make campus great again is to reaffirm commitment to free speech, civil discourse, and the encouragement of plural opinions on campus.

Last week, President Trump took a big step towards doing just that when he signed an Executive Order directing federal agencies to withhold federal research funding if academic institutions do not uphold and foster an environment of free inquiry.

But what made me come to the conclusion that free speech in higher education is at a crisis level? How and why is it so bad that campus must be made great once again?

I first realized there might be a problem when I experienced gross viewpoint discrimination during my own time as an undergraduate. Professors mocked me and my student group on Facebook for our conservative, Christian beliefs. We were blocked countless times from bringing right-of-center speakers to campus for academic credit. We were discriminated against when it came to the allotment of student government funding.

I thought surely my experience was an anomaly and most institutions of higher education treated students, and the First Amendment, with more respect. It turns out I was wrong.

Since graduating with my bachelors in 2014, I have spent years documenting the misconduct of biased professors, writing about draconian speech codes at public colleges and universities, and highlighting the degradation of academic exploration and the marketplace of ideas. In fact, it turns out my experience with campus censorship was not unique; rather, it was one of the thousands of examples of our failed American education system.

On Thursday I watched from the front row as President Trump signed an executive order to protect the free speech of Americans on college campuses.

“Under the guise of speech codes, safe spaces, and trigger warnings, these universities have tried to restrict free thought, impose total conformity, and shut down the voices of great young Americans like those here today. All of that changes starting right now,” Trump said.

He brought on stage students who have been harassed, bullied, and assaulted on campus by leftists who believe their feelings override the protections of the First Amendment.

Pro-life student Ellen Wittman, of Miami University in Ohio, told her story of how she was required to give campus-wide trigger warnings before erecting a pro-life display on campus.

Polly Olsen, of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, explained how her school would not allow her to hand out Valentine's Day cards with Christian messages on them.

University of Nebraska student Katie Mullen told how she was protested, harassed, and mocked by two college employees when promoting her conservative student organization on campus.

These stories, so similar to my own, highlighted the great need for reform and I’m so thankful that President Trump allowed these students to share their stories with the world.

I was moved by President Trump’s praise for all the work young conservatives have done to highlight this issue and encouraged by his message to stand strong and never quit.

"You refuse to be silenced by powerful institutions and closed-minded critics," the president rightly stated. After all, we are a determined group of free speech warriors!

The White House has made it clear that they stand with campus conservatives and every other young person fighting for freedom in America. I feel like the work we’ve done has truly made a difference and has been instrumental in bringing these issues to the attention of the President. Without continued activism, watchdog reporting, and advocacy, this historic executive order would not have been signed.

This has been the culmination of many years of hard work, and I am so grateful that after many years fighting by ourselves on campus, young conservatives finally have support from the White House; the President has the power to affect real change in ways students are simply unable. I am so humbled and moved by the President’s speech and support that we fought so hard to get.

"F" the law!" So say law students at CUNY!

Today's generation thinks free speech is a shield for fascism or white supremacy. They don't understand why free speech is important!

The intolerant Left has engaged in an aggressive campaign to silence and intimidate speakers they disagree with.

The ten worst colleges for free speech

FIRE has compiled a list of the ten worst colleges in America for free speech. The list is presented in no particular order. The ten?

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, N.Y.)

Drexel University (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)

Los Angeles Community College District (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Fordham University (New York, N.Y.)

Evergreen State College (Olympia, Wash.)

Albion College (Albion, Mich.)

Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)

University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, Calif.)

Texas State University (San Marcos, Texas)

Lifetime Censorship Award: DePaul University (Chicago, Ill.)

Go here to read detailed explanations of how each one earned their recognition.

First Amendment?: What's that?

Ashe Schow reports at Watchdog.org,

Student journalists at college and university newspapers are facing consequences for reporting on concerns that show their schools in a negative light, according to a report from the American Association of University Professors.

“It has become disturbingly routine for student journalists and their advisers to experience overt hostility that threatens their ability to inform the campus community and, in some instances, imperils their careers or the survival of their publications,” the report stated. “Administrative efforts to subordinate campus journalism to public relations are inconsistent with the mission of higher education to provide a space for intellectual exploration and debate.”

...The report notes a March 2016 survey of college and university media advisers in which more than 20 advisers said school administrators attempted to control content by student journalists. The advisers would not share their stories out of fear of retaliation. Even tenured professors are afraid to speak up, the survey found.

The report also found cases in which student journalists were denied access to key university meetings: “Even where student journalists are not directly barred from publishing unflattering information, image-conscious institutions may often achieve the same result by choking off access to information, at times in defiance of state laws guaranteeing the public, which includes student media, access to government meetings and documents.”

Student journalists are often the ones best able to report on college and university matters. They know the schools best and are in the best position to know about and attend events and meetings. Cutting off their access not only hurts students, alumni and donors, but also goes against the First Amendment.

Read more here.