On October 5, 2025, two major free speech advocacy groups, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and PEN America, released separate reports that cast a stark light on the state of free expression in America’s educational institutions. Their findings, spanning from Connecticut’s universities to Florida’s public schools, reveal a nation grappling with how—and whether—to protect the open exchange of ideas in classrooms, libraries, and public forums.
FIRE’s 2026 College Free Speech Rankings, a comprehensive survey spanning 257 colleges and universities and involving 68,510 undergraduate students, handed Connecticut’s higher education institutions a sobering report card. Of the five Connecticut universities surveyed—Yale University, the University of Connecticut (UConn), Connecticut College, Trinity College, and Wesleyan University—none escaped criticism. The average grade was a failing one, with Yale performing best at 58th nationally, yet still earning only a D for its campus speech climate.
“Anytime one of our universities gets an F on a free speech ranking, that is a good reminder for us to reevaluate our policies,” Justin Silverman of the New England First Amendment Coalition told the Hartford Courant. His call for introspection echoed across Connecticut’s academic landscape, as students and faculty alike voiced worries about increasing self-censorship and the chilling effect of recent political events.
The data from FIRE’s report is eye-opening. At UConn, which ranked 215 out of 257, the university landed in the bottom 25 for both ‘comfort’ and ‘self-censorship,’ and in the bottom 50 for ‘openness.’ The survey found that 41% of students at the five Connecticut schools said they self-censor on campus at least once or twice a month. An even more startling number: 74% of students agreed that shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking is acceptable at least in rare cases, while 31% said using violence to stop someone from speaking is acceptable at least in rare cases.
Some of these tensions have played out in dramatic fashion. Last spring, UConn saw 25 students arrested during a “Gaza solidarity encampment” on its Storrs campus. One of those arrested, former student Muhammad Elsabbal, told the Hartford Courant, “We were peaceful. I think it was a shame and honestly a huge stain on the university. I am not surprised by FIRE’s score for UConn.” Yazeed Hasan, president of UConn’s Students for Justice in Palestine, reinforced the point, saying, “Any attempt to have any form of free speech on campus about Palestine or any human rights issues—it is very clear that UConn is very aggressive in shutting these things down.”
The problem is not isolated to Connecticut. As Sean Stevens, FIRE’s chief research advisor, pointed out, “There are now some very serious top-down threats from the government targeting college campuses.” He noted that since the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk three weeks prior to the report, FIRE had recorded 76 incidents involving faculty comments about the killing, with 12 faculty members fired as a result. “From 2000 to 2024, we recorded 102 scholar sanction attempts involving politicians or government actors,” Stevens said. “By comparison, already this year there are 273 such attempts, including the removal of 400 books from the U.S. Naval Academy library.”
Connecticut’s state and federal lawmakers have taken notice. “Universities ought to be bastions of free speech and expression because the lifeblood of schools is the free expression of ideas, publicly and openly,” U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal said. State Senator Saud Anwar called the findings “deeply concerning,” emphasizing, “These institutions should be places where ideas are freely exchanged, debated and challenged with mutual respect.”
Meanwhile, in Florida, the fight over free speech has taken a different, but equally contentious, form. On the same day as FIRE’s report, PEN America released its annual rankings, showing Florida leading the nation in banning books in schools for the third consecutive year. Texas and Tennessee followed, ranking second and third, respectively. Since 2021, PEN America has tracked over 23,000 cases of book bans nationally.
The DeSantis administration, however, disputes the characterization. Officials claim that no books have been officially banned, stating that books simply “disappear from shelves” and that parents have the ability to object to what they consider obscene material in classrooms. But PEN America’s research raises concerns that not all removals are the result of parental complaints—some are driven by state officials. The group cautioned that bills promoting parental involvement may actually empower a “vocal, censorship-minded minority” to intimidate educators and scrutinize public education.
This debate has spilled into the public square, with citizens weighing in on the implications for democracy and the First Amendment. As one Florida resident wrote to Florida Today, “The bigger concern, in my view, is the increasing threat of government censorship of protected speech.” Others, like Susie Fricker, echoed the foundational stakes: “Yes. Why? 1st amendment—Free Speech. The US Constitution. Our Democracy. These plus so much more are all things at stake with the current administration.”
Back in Connecticut, the FIRE report found that even prestigious universities are not immune. Brown University, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan, and both UC Berkeley and UCLA all received failing grades for their speech climate. At Connecticut College, a “red light” rating was issued for at least one policy violating the First Amendment, while the other four Connecticut schools received a “yellow light” rating, indicating policies that could potentially restrict some protected speech.
Connecticut College’s director of media relations, Christina Flowers, responded by noting that the FIRE ranking was based on a small sample—just 135 students, less than 7% of the student body. She added, “Our Freedom of Expression and Assembly Policy is posted on our website. The policy affirms that speech and expressive activity are protected regardless of viewpoint, with clear time, place and manner guidelines, while prohibiting threats, harassment and discrimination.” UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz also questioned the survey’s methodology, pointing out that only 329 responses were gathered from a student population of approximately 34,400. Still, she emphasized, “UConn encourages and upholds free speech on all of its campuses as a bedrock principle of our university and society.”
Yet, the numbers and anecdotes suggest a deeper unease—a sense that, for many students and faculty, the climate for free speech is growing more fraught. As Haritha Subramanian, vice president of UConn’s undergraduate student government, put it, “I hear a lot from students who are protesting that their rights are being violated.”
Whether it’s the removal of books from shelves in Florida, the arrest of student protestors in Connecticut, or the firing of faculty after controversial remarks, the battle lines over free speech in America’s educational institutions are being drawn ever more sharply. As both FIRE and PEN America warn, the stakes are not just academic—they cut to the heart of what it means to participate in a free and open society.
