FIRE on Campus Leadership and the Defense of Open Inquiry

Free speech on campus is not an abstract constitutional issue—it's a governance challenge for presidents and boards. In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton is joined by Dr. Sean Stevens, Chief Research Advisor at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), to examine the current state of campus free speech and what institutional leaders must do to protect open inquiry under increasing political and social pressure. Drawing on FIRE's national research and campus speech databases, Stevens outlines the sharp rise in government-involved attempts to sanction speech, the growing prevalence of self-censorship among faculty and students, and the structural pressures reshaping intellectual life on U.S. campuses. The conversation moves beyond partisan framing and focuses on leadership responsibility: preserving disciplined pluralism, reinforcing institutional neutrality, and ensuring that students graduate prepared to engage competing ideas with rigor and intellectual humility. Some of the key topics covered in this episode include: The increase in campus speech sanction attempts involving government actors Faculty and student self-censorship trends and what the data reveals Why exposure to competing perspectives is an educational obligation Institutional neutrality as protection for viewpoint diversity The distinction between protected speech and prudent speech in the social media era Practical steps presidents and boards can take to strengthen expressive rights policies Three Takeaways for University Presidents and Boards: Defend expressive rights consistently—even when doing so is politically uncomfortable. Leadership credibility depends on principled application. Recognize that sustained political and social pressure can narrow intellectual culture—and counter that contraction intentionally. Preserve disciplined pluralism as a core academic value. Students must be able to hear, analyze, and argue competing perspectives without fear. This episode provides a strategic lens for higher education leaders navigating campus speech controversies while protecting the fundamental mission of scholarship and inquiry. Listen now or read the transcript:

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FIRE on Campus Leadership and the Defense of Open Inquiry is an episode from Changing Higher Ed by Dr. Drumm McNaughton.

This episode is 37:50 long.

This episode was published on Feb 17, 2026.

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