The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression released its 2026 College Free Speech Ranking report (FIRE). It put the University of Connecticut at the bottom of the barrel, giving it an F in free speech climate.
The FIRE report ranks UConn 215 out of 257 colleges and universities. The grade is based on surveys, campus policies, and recent speech-related issues.
“UConn encourages and upholds free speech on all of its campuses as a bedrock principle of our university and society," said UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz.
“We would not typically comment on a poll for which we are not privy to the data and methodology, beyond noting that it appears to reflect less than 1% (329 responses) of our approximately 34,400-student population," Reitz said.
In April of last year, 24 UConn students who were taking part in a protest against the war in Gaza were arrested by UConn police. According to UConn’s student newspaper, the Daily Campus, the students were charged with criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct. The students who were expressing support for Palestinians in Gaza also set up an encampment on campus.
An email from the university was sent to students stating tents are not allowed in outdoor gatherings on campus. Students were arrested for violating a campus policy by putting up 20 tents and using amplified sound.
The FIRE report includes a statement from a UConn student who said, “During the Israel and Palestine conflict the administration called law enforcement on students peacefully protesting in public space.”
FIRE also cites one incident at UConn when comedian Kevan "K-Von" Moezzi, from Turning Point USA, a non-profit which advocates for conservative politics on high school and college campuses, was supposed to perform at UConn last March. UConn officials canceled Moezzi’s show just hours before it was supposed to start.
The FIRE report explains Moezzi was told by an administrator the show cancellation was due to receiving incorrect information and the university being unaware of who was performing.
UConn Student Television’s news director, Holden Duckworth, who is a senior at UConn says off campus protests which are held nearby gain more traction and a better turnout.
“I think that organized protests with groups get shut down or deterred pretty quickly,” Duckworth said.
Amanda Crawford, an associate journalism professor at UConn says she believes the university does foster a healthy environment for freedom of speech and social and political discourse. However, Crawford believes the waters are being tested.
“For many years, much of the free speech talk on campus has been about, should we let the most racist, horrible, heinous ideas come to public schools, and the answer under the First Amendment is obviously that we can't discriminate as a university against the content of ideas," Crawford said. “But that is generally where the controversy has lived. Turning Point USA has made it their mandate to go around the country and try to test university campuses by bringing in extraordinarily offensive speakers sometimes, and that has been the case here.”
Crawford emphasized that while protecting the right to free speech and being able to exercise it without retribution is vital; she also said it’s important to have a filter.
“If someone is about to open their mouth and say something ill informed, offensive to society, racist, etc., that's what a living society is about," Crawford said. “Everything that pops in our head, we shouldn't feel okay saying in polite society.”
