Georgetown Promotes Free Speech, but Students Don t Feel It | RealClearEducation
Nearly 20,000 undergraduates at 55 major American colleges and universities participated in the survey. Students were asked a series of questions, meant to gauge their own commitment to free speech and their perception of their peers tolerance for diverse points of view. Institutions were ranked according to student sentiment on free expression.
The results were dispiriting. As RealClearEducation s Nathan Harden highlighted on Tuesday, nearly 20% of students say that using violence to stop an unwanted speech or event is in some cases acceptable, and some 60 percent of the undergraduates surveyed say they have kept quiet due to fear of how others would respond.
One university in particular stands out for the discrepancy between its official posture on free speech and the views of its students on the state of speech on campus. Georgetown University, which hosts the Free Speech Project at Georgetown University and is apparently committed to promoting free expression, struggled mightily in the 2020 College Free Speech Rankings, ranking 48th out of the 55 colleges and universities included.