(The Center Square) – The speech climate at four schools in the University of North Carolina System ranked “above average” in the largest annual review of free speech for colleges and universities.
The quartet of UNC Charlotte (No. 9), East Carolina (No. 13), UNC Greensboro (No. 22) and Appalachian State (No. 24) all made the national top 25, with Duke leading the private contingent at No. 27. FIRE, the acronym for Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, based the rankings on 58,000 students at 257 colleges and universities.
The University of Virginia, Michigan Tech and Florida State were the best . The worst were Ivy Leaguers Harvard and Columbia, each with scores of zero and speech climate descriptions of “abysmal.”
Of the other campuses surveyed , UNC Chapel Hill was No. 62, Wake Forest No. 78 and Davidson No. 127.
Charlotte had no de-platforming, disruptions, sanctioned scholars or students, or honor roll statements in categories. The school was No. 65 for self-censorship, No. 66 for comfort expressing ideas, No. 98 for administration support, No. 110 for openness, No. 193 for intolerance for speakers, and No. 237 in disruptive conduct.