W&L’s Free Speech Ranking Slips
W&L’s FIRE Free Speech Ranking Slips
The recently published report shows a renewed dip in the university’s openness and freedom of expression.
(The Daily Wire host Michael Knowles speaks at W&L’s Evans Hall. | SOURCE: The Spectator)
Despite priding itself on freedom of inquiry and speech, including signing onto multiple nationwide statements supporting free speech, Washington and Lee University’s practical commitment to those ideals has seen challenges over the past years.
W&L, since its inception, has been an institution at the forefront of contemporary political discussion. From renaming ourselves Liberty Hall during the American Revolution, to having the oldest student-run mock political convention in the country, W&L students do not have to look far to see a long, rich history of political discourse.
Freedom of speech on college campuses has become a contentious topic in the modern political arena, too. For instance, public universities like the University of New Mexico and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have attempted to use “security fees” to discourage conservative speakers like Riley Gaines and Michael Knowles from speaking on their campuses.
Infringements on collegiate free expression are a nationwide problem, something demonstrated by the research of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a leading nonprofit group focused on protecting the freedom of speech on college campuses. FIRE found that “from 2020 through 2024, 1,014 students and student groups were either targeted for or recipients of punishment from either their administration or student government in response to their protected speech.”
W&L has been no stranger to the repression of political speech, including the silencing faced by W&L College Republicans during Virginia’s last gubernatorial election. The university had censured W&L College Republicans for displaying campaign materials supporting now-Governor Glenn Youngkin, later backing off after the story received widespread, national coverage.
Additionally, the school saw hundreds of students and faculty members band together to silence a conservative speaker. A confluence of factors led to a slip for W&L in FIRE’s free speech rankings for colleges, which fell to number 70 in FIRE’s 2022-23 rankings, labeled an “Average” ranking by the organization.
Yet, in recent years, FIRE has ranked W&L more favorably. President Dudley’s protection of Matt Walsh’s visit to campus temporarily boosted its ranking last year. FIRE’s 2024 rankings placed W&L at number 20, considered “Above Average.”
(W&L’s place in the overall free speech rankings, as of 2024 | SOURCE: FIRE)
FIRE has continued their rankings this year, conducting a nationwide survey ranking 251 colleges on “openness, tolerance, self-expression, administrative support for free speech, and campus policies.” In this specific survey, 106 W&L students responded.
The report ranked W&L 33rd in protecting freedom of speech among all 251 universities, and fourth in the category of private institutions. This slide in the rankings left W&L ranked below many other Virginia schools, like the University of Virginia, the College of William & Mary, George Mason University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Additionally, W&L was rated lower than another elite, Southern private school, Duke University.
(W&L’s place in the overall free speech rankings, as of 2025 | SOURCE: FIRE)
Testimonials from W&L students collected by FIRE seem to back up their findings. One of the anonymous students claimed that “I usually am scared to voice my opinion.” Another student said, “I sit in silence, secretly disagreeing, but I feel as if I would alienate myself if I were to out myself.”
These fears that W&L students possessed were further displayed as W&L ranked almost last when it came to openness, or “a student's perceived ability to have conversations about difficult topics on campus.”
However, W&L received positive rankings in several areas of institutional support for freedom of speech. In the same anonymous survey, 89% of W&L students felt that it was at least somewhat clear that their college administration was protecting free speech on campus. This skyrocketed W&L to first in the rankings of student-perceived administrative support. Also, W&L ranked second in tolerating both liberal and conservative speakers on campus.
Seemingly contradicting the views of students, FIRE gave W&L a “yellow light” for its institutional policies governing free speech and free inquiry, meaning the school has “at least one ambiguous policy that too easily encourages administrative abuse and arbitrary application.” This middling ranking applied to all W&L free speech policies, from sections of the Student Handbook to the school's sexual misconduct policy.
According to FIRE, freedom of speech at W&L appears to be a mixed bag, embodied in its “Slightly Above Average” ranking for W&L’s “Speech Climate.” It remains to be seen what course W&L will chart in this area in the coming years.