How important is free speech on a college campus?

Here's what the Supreme Court said in 1957 in the landmark case,

Suisee V. New Hampshire.

Teachers and students must always remain free to inquire,

otherwise our civilization will stagnate and die.

Inspiring words and true, which is why what's happening in American colleges and universities is so disturbing.

A study conducted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities in 2010

revealed that only 30% of college seniors strongly agreed with the question,

is it safe to hold unpopular positions on this campus?

Worse, the study found that students' confidence that they can hold unpopular opinions declines from freshman to senior year.

How can it be that at a place where speech should be the most free, the university?

Young people fear merely holding to say nothing of actually expressing unpopular opinions.

The reason is that for decades now, students have been sent a clear message from their schools.

Express dissenting opinions, violate political correctness, or even just criticize the administration at your peril.

After working for 12 years at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Education,

I have seen hundreds of examples of students in peril.

Here are just a few.

At Indiana University, Purdue University, Indianapolis,

a student employee was found guilty of racial harassment for publicly reading a book that some of his fellow employees found defensive.

The book was Notre Dame versus the clan, and it was available in the school's library.

It recounted and celebrated the defeat of the Ku Klux Klan when its members marched on Notre Dame in 1924.

So what did the university find offensive?

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