Skip to content

RU Speechless?

Free Speech in Higher Education

  • Home
  • About
    • First Amendment & Higher Education: COMS 460
  • RU issues
    • Tartan letter 2020
    • Radford City Greek Sign Ordinances
    • What’s wrong with the RU – Radford City ordinances?
  • Policies
    • RU Deans memo 2012
    • Objection to sign restrictions
    • RU Policies memo 2011
    • 2009
    • 2007
    • 2006
    • RU mail announce
  • Resources
    • Constitutional Tests
    • Free speech and higher education: A History
    • Case list
    • Debate
    • Outline of a proposed book
    • Photo research
    • Quoteable
    • Bibliography
    • Quizzes

Author: Cheve Tolbert

Andrew Kloster Gives Good Advice: First Amendment Rights

Andrew Kloster, a legal colleague at the Heritage Foundation, gives good advice to students about their First Amendment rights. Speaking to students on a university in Oklahoma Kloster addresses many issues with colleges restricting Free Speech.

Read more at

Posted on April 18, 2013April 21, 2013 by Cheve TolbertPosted in Legal

Kentucky On the Fence for Free Speech

Kentucky has recently been consider a risk for free speech on campus. It has gotten a “yellow” raiting which is one away from a bad rating. The student organizations decided to organize and build a free speecch wall on campus.

Read More at

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Cheve TolbertPosted in Uncategorized

Fraternity / Sorority sign ban in Radford

City ordinances specifically ban the display of 'Greek' signs on houses in Radford's university district.
The Problem is that any government unit’s regulation of the specific content of speech is subject to strict scrutiny review by the courts. Under this review, government must prove that a regulation is:
1) necessary to achieve a “compelling state interest“ 
2) “narrowly tailored” to achieve this compelling interest; a
3) uses the “least restrictive means” to achieve the purpose.   
 Ordinances 120.1-64 and 120.1- 239 fail this test. 

Academic Freedom

Teddy Roosevelt picture from Duke University.
Teddy Roosevelt speaks at Duke University, 1903: “You stand for Academic Freedom, for the right of private judgment, for a duty more incumbent upon the scholar than upon any other man, to tell the truth as he sees it, to claim for himself and to give to others the largest liberty in seeking after the truth.” - US President Teddy Roosevelt, 1903

Current events

  • Video: New Purdue president discusses academic freedom and free speech issues on campus - Journal & Courier
    November 5, 2026
    Video: New Purdue president discusses academic freedom and free speech issues on campus  Journal & Courier
  • Academic freedom under fire? - Trinitonian
    November 5, 2026
    Academic freedom under fire?  Trinitonian
  • Prof. Shameem says academic freedom is vital to institutional autonomy and democracy - Fijivillage
    November 3, 2026
    Prof. Shameem says academic freedom is vital to institutional autonomy and democracy  Fijivillage
  • McMaster Dialogues event considers academic freedom in the age of polarization - McMaster News
    November 3, 2026
    McMaster Dialogues event considers academic freedom in the age of polarization  McMaster News
  • Academic freedom: The freedom to teach, discover, and serve - Virginia Tech News
    October 13, 2026
    Academic freedom: The freedom to teach, discover, and serve  Virginia Tech News
  • Conference "Academic Freedom in Action 2026" - www.coe.int
    September 21, 2026
    Conference "Academic Freedom in Action 2026"  www.coe.int
  • Six principles for supporting academic freedom in universities - Nature
    September 21, 2026
    Six principles for supporting academic freedom in universities  Nature
  • See how academic freedom is changing around the world - Scientific American
    June 16, 2026
    See how academic freedom is changing around the world  Scientific American
  • Academic Freedom in the US Under Threat - Human Rights Watch
    March 18, 2026
    Academic Freedom in the US Under Threat  Human Rights Watch
  • Academic Freedom Index: The Autonomy of Universities in the USA Falls Far Behind Peer Group - VolkswagenStiftung
    March 17, 2026
    Academic Freedom Index: The Autonomy of Universities in the USA Falls Far Behind Peer Group  VolkswagenStiftung

More current events

From shuttered print editions to firings, student journalists clash with universities March 21, 2026 https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2026/0321/student-journalism-first-amendment

Proudly powered by WordPress Theme: Colinear by Automattic.