Harvard University has climbed up the ranking in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s (FIRE) annual campus free speech ranking after sitting at the bottom two years in a row.
Columbia University’s Barnard College has taken the last place position, while Harvard has jumped to number 245 out of 257, according to the report released Tuesday. Despite the promising result, students at Harvard deeply distrust the university administration’s willingness to support their free speech rights.
Only 20% of Harvard students say it is clear the university protects free speech, and just 8% believe Harvard would defend them during a controversy involving “offensive speech,” the report stated. Despite this, s majority of Harvard students reported feeling comfortable expressing opinions on controversial political topics.
“[W]hile Harvard may be showing signs of improvement, it continues to struggle with administrative trust, enforcement consistency, and the protection of controversial speech,” FIRE wrote.
People use an entrance and exit at Columbia University on April 30, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)
Harvard students are more open than average to allowing controversial liberal and conservative speakers, ranking 13th overall — although they were significantly more comfortable with controversial liberal speakers. Barnard comes in at 15th for tolerance of controversial liberal speakers in the report, but just 223rd when it comes to controversial conservative speakers, indicating a preference for “ideological uniformity” over openness to differing views. (RELATED: Trump Ed Sec’s Speech Loudly Disrupted By Clown Music But She Barely Bats An Eye)
“In this context, Barnard’s results point not to a vibrant culture of free expression, but to a campus where certain viewpoints dominate and dissenting perspectives are rarely encountered,” FIRE said.
Students at Barnard reported distrust in the administration’s willingness to defend their free speech rights, however, some of the students quoted in the report cited the possibility of being reprimanded for participating in protests — which at times were violent and disruptive at the school — as justification behind this feeling.
“I feel as though for a lot of opinions I have to censor it or else there might be administrative backlash or discipline because our administration tends to be very harsh if you hold an opinion different to theirs,” one Barnard student was anonymously quoted.
“Protests are relatively common on my campus, but there is a fear of being identified and expelled/reprimanded by administration for expressing opinions on specifically the Israel/ Palestine conflict, due to high security and police presence on campus,” another student said.
“Constant and recurrent threats and follow through of admin bringing in NYPD and SWAT teams, assaulting students walking in front of the school during times of heightened police presence, allowing ICE on campus and to detain students without probable cause, constant and deliberate discrimination toward pro-palestine movement/events/sentiments and ignorance of racism, religious discrimination, xenophobia,” another was quoted.
Harvard currently remains in limbo with the Trump administration after refusing to “surrender” its free speech and academic freedom rights to strike a deal after the administration accused it of failing to address antisemitism and continuing to engage in illegal racial preferencing. The Ivy League university promised to address the issues without federal oversight after an internal investigations found that more than a quarter of Jewish students felt “physically unsafe” on campus and “Almost 60% of Jewish students reported experiencing ‘discrimination, stereotyping, or negative bias.’”
Recently, a federal judge struck down the administration’s attempt to cut over $2 billion in federal funds from the university over its noncompliance.
Columbia University meanwhile settled with the Trump administration after also being accused of failing to address antisemitism on campus. The university agreed to reform and enforce its protest rules and hire an outside monitor to ensure its compliance, among other items.
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