Shifting Winds: Students Under Fire, 2020-2024

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) released a new report on students and student groups punished or investigated by American college and university administrators between 2020 and 2024 for speech protected by the First Amendment. FIRE recorded 1,014 attempts to suppress expression on campus, 63% of which led to administrative sanctions. The report highlights two distinct periods prompted by racial justice protests following George Floyd’s death and by the war in Gaza following Hamas’ attack on Israel: 1) in 2020-22, “most students and student groups were targeted by their peers, for speech about race, and from their left”; 2) in 2023-24, “most were targeted by administrators, for speech about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and from their right.” FIRE also launched an interactive database listing all the cases that informed the report.