Kathryn Watson of the Daily Caller details interesting information about support for free speech on college campuses.
College students and faculty members who identify as liberal are far more likely to disinvite a campus speaker than self-identified conservatives, but conservatives succeed slightly more often, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation analysis.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education database, which defends students’ and professors’ rights to free speech and religious liberty, documented 286 efforts to disinvite scheduled campus speakers between 2000 and 2014.
One hundred and sixty student groups and faculty “from the left” of the speaker tried to disinvite the individual during the period, according to FIRE. Only 96 students and faculty “from the right” of the speaker sought to block a speaker.
Speakers left-wing students sought to block on their campuses included Republican presidential candidates Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie and Rick Santorum, and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
College administrators granted a few more requests from conservatives than liberals — 56 versus 49. FIRE counted official disinvitations from the university, speakers withdrawing from events, and heckling that forced the speaker off stage during a presentation.
