Are there any high quality colleges in New England with a climate that is friendly to free speech and open inquiry? I’m familiar with the FIRE rankings, but I’m looking to hear personal experiences. Perhaps there is one that has reversed course and is changing for the better in this regard?
Thank you!
What does “high quality” mean to you? Low admission rate? Rigorous curriculum in which areas?
And what other criteria come into play- affordability, size, urban/rural, artistic opportunities???
Dartmouth I believe
FIRE rankings are in the eye of the beholder.
It’s hard to know exactly what type of school you are looking for. Is your child interested in political or social activism and wants opportunities to to participate in campus events where there might be speakers, or where there might be groups who hold on campus demonstrations, etc…?
I’m not sure if you are looking for more conservative colleges in New England, and if you are looking solely in New England or more generally the Northeast. In general, most colleges in the Northeast, even the more conservative ones, tend to be at least socially less conservative. As for free speech, I looked at the FIRE list out of curiosity and wasn’t too surprised by it.
It would be helpful if you gave us more information about the environment your child is seeking and what his/her stats are.
It is disappointing, although not a total surprise, to see Harvard so low on the FIRE rankings. One daughter currently has an application in at Harvard (for a PhD program), which may increase the extent to which this might be relevant to us.
Having UVM be moderately low is consistent with what one daughter said when she was a student there. However, she got a great education in her desired field, has graduated, and seems to learned well from the experience. She did not feel free to speak her mind on political issues when there, but did learn about animal science and neuroscience and was well prepared for her current DVM program. If anything the political slant at UVM might have pushed her a bit the other way. However, her focus there was academic, and that went very well.
I agree with this. I mean, does clamping down on “hate speech” cut one way, but not the other? F.I.R.E. seems to be extremely ambiguous about it these days:
Opinion | The Right and Wrong Ways to Deal with Campus Antisemitism - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
By “high quality”, I mean fairly selective, but more importantly having good, interesting professors who don’t have an agenda to indoctrinate but rather to inspire critical independent thinking and lively, civil debate.
I could have mentioned that a liberal arts school would be preferable, but I imagine that the list of schools in New England or the Northeast that meet the above criteria is so short, that I’d like to see them all - large or small, rural or urban, very costly or affordable.
Thank you!
I don’t think FIRE has been at all ambiguous about free speech, they’ve come under a lot of fire (ha ha) from both sides. Take a look through their most recent news releases.
If you peel away the slogans and the lingo and the politics-- and just focus on what the OP is looking for- I’d suggest a deep dive into the Catholic schools in New England. Holy Cross, BC, Providence, etc. There may be professors here and there who are too outspoken for your taste, but in general the ethos is to inspire critical thinking, not to push a particular point of view.
Some of this-- at any college- tends to follow departmental lines. Most faculty in a sociology or criminal justice related discipline will be more liberal; econ, finance, accounting more conservative; urban planning VERY progressive, petroleum engineering much less progressive. Obviously, individuals are individuals so this is a very broad stroke.
FIRE aside then, I’d love to hear any recommendations from people with personal experience. Thanks
Good suggestion! Thank you!
Please stick to the OP’s question and not discussing FIRE ratings in general. There are other threads where you can do that!
I’d be shocked to find any schools that have an “agenda to indoctrinate,” aside from possibly a religious school that has an explicit mission to train people as adherents to that religion (please note – this is not a slam on religious schools at all; I went to a Catholic university that absolutely did not include “indoctrination” in its mission. I’m just saying I can imagine that a school exists somwhere to train kids in a certain worldview, and is open about that intention) Most schools I have researched in C24’s college search are interested in training critical thinkers who will examine the world around them, regardless of the conclusions those kids end up drawing.
OP: It is difficult to to understand what type of college you are seeking. There are schools with liberal student bodies and there are schools with more moderate student bodies. Individuals tend to define “free speech” in the context of their values rather than uncensored speech.
Consider Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts (different from the conservative religious Wheaton College in Illinois). Leans left, very gay friendly, focuses on women’s issues, but not a hotbed of political dissent. It is a safe environment if that is what you are seeking.
Or are you seeking an apolitical environment ? St. Lawrence University in extreme upstate New York may fit that description.
I could readily name a dozen more schools, but I am referencing these two in order to generate a reaction from you that may help readers to better understand what you are seeking.
Under the heading of respectful dialogue, consider any Catholic or Jesuit schools.
Wesleyan University actually ranks 115 out of 248 colleges, earning it an “Average” ranking in the 2024 F.I.R.E. poll:
Free Speech Rankings (thefire.org)
The hardest problem that colleges have with respect to free speech is where the line is between free speech and threats or harassment, especially when some people or organizations deliberately try to test where that line is. The line is not necessarily clear, since different people may have different opinions on what constitutes threats or harassment, and some people’s opinions are situational based on the political viewpoint of the speech that is testing the line. Of course, different colleges act differently when presented with such problems.
I think the harder problem is that when an institution is on record for “taking a stand” on the last umpteen social issues (most of which are barely tangential to the institution’s core activities), it becomes REALLY hard to claim “we don’t take a stand on XYZ”.
Colleges, museums, advocacy organizations, human services organizations, etc. were racing to the be the first to come out with a statement after Ferguson, George Floyd… you know the list. So ok- colleges want to be “out front” with their virtue signaling. Colleges doubled down on the MeToo stuff- even when it involved people with no connection to their institution. Colleges sponsor anti-sexual violence demonstrations; etc.
But then claim that a statement condemning the rapes of Israeli women on October 7th is “not our role”. Which frankly- I understand. But if you’ve been vocal about the last 20 men in Hollywood (who are not alums of your institution) and the allegations made by women (who are neither students not alums on your institution) you can see how your college is going to look a bit- shall we say hypocritical? when you can’t condemn mass rape when perpetrated by actual armed terrorists.
So if the virtue signaling starts to subside- probably a good thing both at an organizational level AND a societal level. You’re an organization that works with law enforcement to de-escalate armed responses, particularly within minority communities? You get to be out front on the issues revealed after George Floyd. You’re a liberal arts college in rural Maine? Maybe sit this one out.