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Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether the free speech practices of Binghamton University, a public institution in New York, violate federal law and regulation.
- The probe stems from incidents last year concerning conservative student groups, in which protesters trashed tables displaying promotional and political materials, and drowned out a speaker whom one of the organizations invited to campus.
- The White House has taken a special interest in campus free speech, and civil liberties experts say institutions should expect similar inquiries to emerge.
Dive Insight:
Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order tying public and private colleges’ federal research dollars to protecting campus free expression. The administration issued a similar rule this year meant to bolster religious freedom and free inquiry. Both measures were criticized as being redundant to existing law and difficult to enforce.
The probe of Binghamton is at least the third such the department has opened into postsecondary institutions this year. It follows similar ones into the University of California, Los Angeles, and Fordham University, a New York private school.
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