College Students Conflicted on Campus Speech Codes

A joint study conducted by Gallup, the Knight Foundation, and other foundations recently surveyed American college students on the First Amendment, otherwise known as the freedom of speech. The Charles Koch Foundation, the Stanton Foundation, and the American Council on Education supported the study.

Some of the major findings of the survey are:

• Students are just as likely to favor campus speech codes (49%) as to oppose them (51%)

• Nearly two-thirds of students do not believe the U.S. Constitution ought to protect hate speech

• 61% of students agree that college campus climate prevents some students from expressing views out of fear of offending their peers.

• Among college students, 92% believe liberal students are more able to share their opinions freely when compared to 69% believing the same for conservative students.
The study demonstrates that the First Amendment continues to be an enigma to some college students.

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