Free speech foundation ranks IU as worst public college 

Indiana University sank to near the bottom of The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression College Free Speech Rankings this year.
 
FIRE, a nonprofit organization focused on First Amendment rights in the U.S., surveyed more than 68,000 students to rank 257 colleges and universities. IU ranked at No. 255, making it the lowest-rated public institution in the country.  
 
Nationally, FIRE’s survey shows college students are less open-minded toward free speech as they reported self-censoring and favored shutting down controversial ideas.  
 
Sean Stevens, FIRE’s chief research advisor, said past surveys showed liberal students tended to be less tolerant, but this year, conservative students are now matching their responses. 
 
“A lot of the decline is actually more on that side of the political aisle,” Stevens said.  
 
IU spokespeople didn’t respond to requests for comment.  
 
FIRE gave IU a 43.9 out of 100, basing the overall score on 12 parts of the survey. 
 
A number of factors influenced FIRE’s rankings.  
 
Like many other college campuses, Stevens said IU’s ranking was influenced by last year’s antiwar encampment protests led by the Divestment Coalition.  
 
IU administrators and the Board of Trustees made significant changes to free speech policies in reaction to the protests, after dozens of encampment protesters were arrested. Hoosier students were deeply concerned with “snipers on the roof” of the IU Memorial Union, referring to Indiana State Police monitoring the protest.  
 
“We have a number of quotes from an open-ended response question on the survey where students mentioned this incident,” Stevens said.  
 
The university is also dealing with a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana over its expressive activity policy, which severely restricted overnight protests, gatherings and First Amendment activity. 
FIRE also docked points after IU quietly canceled a School of Medicine conference focused on LGBTQ+ health care this year. A dean admitted the cancellation stemmed from federal guidance to end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.   
 
Compared to the year before, FIRE reported political tolerance worsened at IU. Self-censorship — when students hold back their views or ideas on campus — increased. Scores for IU’s administrative support of free speech dropped. 
 
“I'm not surprised to see them at the bottom, and not surprised to see their administrative score would be pretty low,” Stevens said. “I imagine if we spoke with faculty as well and were able to include them in the survey, they probably wouldn't have many good things to say about the administration either.” 
 
While IU’s ranking dropped, Purdue University rose to near the top. Purdue ranked  No. 2 this year, though Stevens noted its rating of 72.6 out of 100. 
 
“Even the best schools are average, slightly above average at best, on a traditional grading scale,” Stevens said.  
 
FIRE criticized Purdue for refusing to distribute its students newspaper, the Purdue Exponent, citing institutional neutrality.  
 
DePauw University was ranked at 18, and the University of Notre Dame was ranked at 238.