For the eighth year in a row, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has named UF a top university in the country for free expression in its College Free Speech Rankings.
The organization, which has a mission to defend and sustain the individual rights of students and faculty members at America's colleges and universities, awarded UF a Green Light rating based on survey responses from more than 37,000 students at 159 of the top colleges in the country. UF, which ranked at No. 19, was the first school in Florida to achieve Green Light status in the rankings published in 2014.
"The University of Florida has a longstanding commitment to fostering healthy dialogue with our university community, protecting free speech on our campus and providing a welcoming atmosphere for the collective voices to be heard," said D'Andra Mull, vice president for Student Life at UF. "We will continue to work to ensure that our campus values, including freedom and civility, inclusion, and community, are upheld.
Of UF students surveyed for the 2021 rankings, 76% reported it likely that the administration will defend a speaker's right to express their views. Further, two out of three students said they felt comfortable having a difficult conversation on campus. Additional survey data and information on the ranking can be found here.
The FIRE College Free Speech Rankings score institutions on seven distinct aspects of the free speech climate on campus, including openness to discussion of controversial topics, tolerance for liberal speakers, tolerance for conservative speakers, administrative support for free speech, comfort expressing ideas publicly, whether students support disruptive conduct during campus speeches, and FIRE's speech code rating.
