Annually, FIRE publishes its College Free Speech Rankings, using student surveys and an analysis of university policy to compare how several campuses support diverse viewpoints and create spaces for open dialogue. As in previous rankings, Notre Dame performed poorly. FIRE ranked Notre Dame 232 out of the 261 colleges and universities mentioned, and the university received a failing grade of 54.0/100. Notre Dame also received a Spotlight Rating of red, indicating that FIRE believes that the university restricts free speech.
FIRE is a self-described “nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought … placing a special emphasis on defending these rights of students and faculty members on our nation’s campuses.” Each year, the organization releases its comprehensive College Free Speech Rankings, a ranking of universities and colleges across the United States, measuring how students perceive access to free speech on their respective campuses and how administrative actions censor students.
These rankings are determined by a number grade and a corresponding letter grade, with information taken from both student volunteers and the universities themselves. The student component of the grade involves participants filling out surveys measuring how comfortable they feel speaking about a variety of topics on campus, how much they feel their campuses would allow certain topics and speakers on campus, and how much they feel their university administrations allow freedom of thought.
The university portion measures what, if any, free speech statements have been adopted by the university, and also consists of the Spotlight Rating, which measures how open the schools’ written policies are on free speech and expression.
This year, FIRE ranked The University of Chicago (UChicago) as the number one university for free speech, with a passing grade of 81.4/100 and a green Spotlight Rating. FIRE attributes this score to the confidence among the students that their administration will defend free speech, as well as the University’s adoption of the Chicago Statement and the Kalven Report on Institute Neutrality.
These two free speech statements are significant to FIRE’s assessment of a university, as the adoption of both statements results in an increase of six points to a school’s score, making these adoptions a third of the university portion of the FIRE ratings.
The University of Chicago itself wrote the original Chicago Statement, and that legacy is still present in the school today. As part of the first week of classes, UChicago requires all new students to learn about the university’s freedoms of expression principles, the history of the Chicago Statement at the university, and meet in small groups in hopes of meaningful discussion surrounding freedom of thought.
Emma Di Domenico, a freshman at UChicago, told the Rover that she attributes the school’s high FIRE score to these university requirements, saying that their emphasis alone demonstrates how important freedom of speech is to the administration of UChicago. Other University of Chicago students echoed similar thoughts, with many referencing the orientation speech at UChicago which President Paul Alivisatos gave. He emphasized the importance of the freedom of expression, saying, “You chose to come to a place known for its dedication to free inquiry and expression, a place grounded with that idea and that thrives on the ability to exercise free expression. We work to guard that ability fiercely.”
On the other hand, the University of Notre Dame’s failing score can be attributed to its position on the adoption of the two free speech statements and the restrictiveness some of the 243 student volunteers mentioned they felt while on campus.
A university’s Spotlight Rating is determined by how much FIRE believes the university policies limit or protect free speech, with a red rating—which Notre Dame has—indicating the university has “one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech.”
In the case of Notre Dame, FIRE gave the university a red rating because of its policy regarding the use of Notre Dame resources “to post, view, print, store, or send obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, or offensive material, except for officially approved, legitimate academic or University purposes.” FIRE saw this policy as a violation and restriction against free speech, and the Spotlight Rating reflected that.
Unlike Notre Dame, UChicago does not have a direct policy regarding the viewing, storing, or distributing of porn or other sexual materials. Rather, UChicago’s position on pornography sub-headed under several other policies, all which received a green or yellow rating. FIRE’s case-by-case method of rating schools’ free-speech policies allows some schools to receive higher scores because they do not have direct policies regarding certain topics. Because UChicago lacks such an explicit policy, FIRE did not evaluate the school on the same caliber of other institutions who did have such policies.
Additionally, Notre Dame received a lower score based on students’ responses to how comfortable they feel in sharing their opinions and speaking their mind on campus. Of the six student response categories, five of them received a D+ grade or lower, with those categories being Comfort Expressing Ideas, Openness, Self-Censorship, Administrative Support, and Political Tolerance. The Disruptive Conduct category received a B grade.
A Notre Dame student from the Class of 2026 told FIRE “During a class, someone was sharing views on marriage and said they would never marry a Republican. I thought this was unreasonable but did not speak up out of fear that it might start a conflict.”
But does this “self-censorship” stem from fear, or is it because Notre Dame students want their peers to feel comfortable?
Evan Ragland, Associate Professor of History told the Rover, “Notre Dame students often seem more deferential and considerate than students I have encountered at other elite schools … I think students are often polite and kind, and without prior practice in civil disagreement and discussion it’s not obvious how to combine politeness and rigorous debate in the classroom.”
Ian Diez, a Notre Dame sophomore, spoke highly of the university’s willingness and openness towards freedom of expression, saying “It seems to me that ND is willing to allow any and all expression, with the caveat that it does not hinder operations or cause disturbance or blatantly conflict with the university’s Catholic mission.”
The university’s FIRE ranking shows the balance Notre Dame must navigate between its respect for free expression and its core Catholic values.
Marie Spencer is a freshman majoring in Classics and Honors Math. When not in Hes, she can be found in the dining halls creating food hacks. Send her your best ones at mspence8@nd.edu.