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DO schools promote a free exchange of IDEAS?2.Do schools promote a freeexchange of ideas?Liberal arts colleges are those that foster subjectsknown since antiquity as the artes liberales.At their core is the Latin adjective liber—meaning“free.” The artes liberales were the subjects thatbefitted a free individual. The university bydefinition cannot be a place where students and theirinstructors are shackled to an ideology or to a cultureof groupthink. No academic subject can proceedwithout a commitment to search for answers withoutfear and without bias. At its founding in 1915, theAmerican Association of University Professorsdeclared that the university “should be an intellectualexperiment station, where new ideas may germinate.”The university must be a place where free expressionof diverse views is the first and most sacred principle,even when those viewpoints are perceived aschallenging, unwelcome or even offensive. 30It is this very principle of freeing the mind that is atthe heart of a liberal arts education and which underscoresthe statement issued in 2006 by the Associationof American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)—anational organization whose members include everyschool featured in this report: “In any education ofquality, students encounter an abundance of intellectualdiversity.”To make this possible, AAC&U maintains, studentsshould learn to think critically—so that theyunderstand “the inappropriateness and dangers ofindoctrination . . . see through the distortions ofpropaganda, and . . . [can] assess judiciously thepersuasiveness of powerful emotional appeals.”Students then “require a safe environment in orderto feel free to express their own views.” They “needthe freedom to express their ideas publicly as wellas repeated opportunities to explore a wide range ofinsights and perspectives.” 31Yet despite the importance of the free exchange ofideas to a robust liberal arts education, our findingsshow that free speech is unwelcome on these collegecampuses. Rather than fostering the free exchange ofideas, these liberal arts colleges shut it down. Manycolleges and universities maintain broad policiesthat punish so-called “offensive” speech or restrictexpression to designated “free speech zones.” A closereview by the Foundation for Individual Rights inEducation (FIRE) has found that even the most vocalsupporters of the liberal arts are failing to protectlegitimate expression and free speech and are activelydiscouraging a robust exchange of ideas.FIRE examines speech codes and assigns a “redlight,” “yellow light,” or “green light” rating toindicate whether a given school protects or restrictsfreedom of expression. Every one of the institutionsin this study that has been reviewed by FIRE hasrestrictive policies in place: as the following chartindicates, 11 earned “yellow light” warnings forjeopardizing or excessively regulating protectedspeech, while 14 have imposed clear and substantialrestrictions of free speech.14 EDUCATION OR REPUTATION? A look at America’s Top-raNKed Liberal Arts COLLEGES
DO schools promote a free exchange of IDEAS?SPEECH CODES AT THE TOP-RANKED LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGESRED LIGHT SCHOOLS14 out of 25Institution has at least one policy thatclearly and substantially restricts freedomof speech.YELLOW LIGHT SCHOOLS11 out of 25Institution policies restrict a limitedamount of protected expression orcould too easily be used to restrictprotected expression.GREEN LIGHT SCHOOLS0 out of 25Institution policies do not seriouslyimperil free speech.• Bates College• Amherst College• Carleton College• Bowdoin College• Colby College• Claremont McKenna College• Colgate University• Grinnell College• College of the Holy Cross• Hamilton College• Davidson College• Harvey Mudd College• Macalester College• Haverford College• Middlebury College• Pomona College• Oberlin College• Scripps College• Smith College• Washington & Lee University• Swarthmore College• Williams College• University of Richmond• Wellesley College• Wesleyan UniversitySource: Research and evaluation for this chart completed by The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), www.thefire.org.Notes: The United States military service academies are not rated by FIRE because the U.S. Supreme Court has held that branches of the military “need not encourage debateor tolerate protest to the extent that such tolerance is required of the civilian state by the First Amendment.” Vassar College is not rated by FIRE because Vassar states clearlyand consistently that it holds a certain set of values above a commitment to freedom of speech.A report by the american council of trustees and alumni15
Page 1 and 2: Education or Reputation?A Look at A
Page 3 and 4: Education or Reputation?A Look at A
Page 5 and 6: CONTENTSForewordOverview 1General E
Page 7 and 8: FOREWORDfor very little. Anthony Kr
Page 9 and 10: OVERVIEWOverviewThe residential lib
Page 11 and 12: General Education
Page 13 and 14: WHAT ARE STUDENTS LEARNING?1.What a
Page 15 and 16: WHAT ARE STUDENTS LEARNING?general
Page 17 and 18: WHAT ARE STUDENTS LEARNING?undoubte
Page 19 and 20: WHAT ARE STUDENTS LEARNING?While fe
Page 21: Intellectual Diversity
Page 25 and 26: do schools promote a free exchange
Page 27 and 28: Cost & E˜ ectivenessA REpORT By TH
Page 29 and 30: how much are students paying?Instit
Page 31 and 32: HOW mUcH ARE STUDENTS pAyING?- Typi
Page 33 and 34: where is the money going?INSTRUCTIO
Page 35 and 36: where is the money going?tive they
Page 37 and 38: WHERE IS THE mONEy GOING?- 22 out o
Page 39 and 40: Recommendations
Page 41: ecommENDATIONS3. Create a safe and
Page 44 and 45: APPENDICESlogic, computer science w
Page 46 and 47: APPENDICESMathematics because the
Page 48 and 49: APPENDICESoffered in a range of dep
Page 50 and 51: EnD NOTESLiberal Education 83 (1997
Page 52 and 53: EnD NOTEShttp://www.goacta.org/publ
Page 54: EnD NOTEScolby.edu/academics_cs/res

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