Table of Contents
In Case You Missed It: Art at MIT, Brandeis President's Legacy, and Why Speech Codes Endure

Shutterstock.com
We know a lot of Torch readers were away for the holidays last week, so here are some excellent articles that you might have missed:
- FIRE President Greg Lukianoff wrote for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology鈥檚 newspaper The Tech to review a series of recent in which 鈥渢he expressive rights of artists were deemed inferior to others鈥 desire to avoid having their sensibilities challenged.鈥 Greg writes: 鈥淸T]here is ... tremendous value in art that forces us to challenge our beliefs. Do we want to live in a world where artists are not allowed to stray beyond the confines of comfort, and where unusual expression is quickly suppressed?鈥
- Former FIREintern and Brandeis University alumnus Daniel Ortner discussed the of former Brandeis president Jehuda Reinharz in Brandeis鈥 student newspaper The Justice. Under Reinharz鈥檚 administration, Brandeis was listed on 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 鈥淲orst of the Worst鈥 list for its disregard for the fundamental rights of students and professors, including a 2008 case in which a professor was charged with racial harassment after discussing and critiquing the term 鈥渨etback鈥 in his Latin American Politics class.
- Greg and FIREVice Senior President Robert Shibley penned an about the many factors that have contributed to the proliferation of speech codes on campuses nationwide. In order to fight them, Greg and Robert write, students and faculty must be willing to challenge these policies in court and legislators must work to pass speech-protective legislation. It鈥檚 a Herculean task, but a necessary one in order to protect the 鈥渕arketplace of ideas鈥 that colleges and universities are meant to be.
We highly recommend reading these pieces in full! Remember, you can always find more free speech news and analysis at 果冻传媒app官方's Newsdesk.
Recent Articles
Get the latest free speech news and analysis from 果冻传媒app官方.

FIREstatement on UT-Dallas student newspaper distribution
Freedom of the press isn鈥檛 a courtesy 鈥 it鈥檚 a constitutional right. UT Dallas can try to shut down a newspaper, but they can鈥檛 stop the news.

VICTORY! University of North Texas system lifts drag 鈥榩ause鈥 after 果冻传媒app官方/ACLU of TX letter
The University of North Texas system confirmed that it has lifted its 鈥減ause鈥 on drag performances across its campuses.

How sure are you?
果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 summer interns discovered that certainty isn鈥檛 just a matter of math or metaphysics, but a test of humility 鈥 and one that cuts to the core of free speech.

Fifth Circuit: First Amendment protects drag show from campus censors
The Fifth Circuit just told West Texas A&M: students' abilities to express themselves shouldn鈥檛 be subject to the whims of college administrators.