VCU ‘free speech ranking’ drops following degree controversy

VCU ‘free speech ranking’ drops following degree controversy

Alessandra Caceres Mendoza, Contributing Writer

A leading free speech advocacy organization gave VCU a “D-” in their 2026 college free speech rankings, a drop compared to last year. The ranking comes after three students had their degrees withheld for breaking campus policies during protests against the genocide in Gaza. 

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, now ranks VCU as No. 79 out of 257 United States universities.

FIRE is a non-profit organization whose mission is to amplify and maintain constitutional rights across America, according to its website. 

FIRE changed its methodology this year to compare each school to how it did the previous year, rather than standardize school-to-school comparisons across the board. VCU has overall improved its score in recent years.

“Comfort expressing ideas,” “disruptive conduct,” “self-censorship,” “administrative support” and “political tolerance” are all categories VCU dropped in. However, the university did score points in “openness,” which measures how many controversial topics students feel they can openly discuss on campus.

FIRE attributed the drop to VCU withholding the degrees of several pro-Palestine student advocates last spring, including recent graduate Sereen Haddad, who said she was not surprised by the findings.

“If speaking up can cost you your degree, then students are being told that their education is conditional, and it’s only safe if they stay silent,” Haddad said.

Haddad’s degree was withheld until August after she broke a number of new rules VCU instated prior to the fall 2024 semester after Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares asked Virginia universities to do so. 

The new rules put restrictions on chalking on certain surfaces and locations around campus, as well as the requirement that students be able to present their identification while wearing face masks. 

The policy also banned protests on the James Branch Cabell Library lawn, where Haddad and hundreds of other students protested the semester prior in 2024 — resulting in 13 arrests by police, the use of chemical irritants on students and numerous injuries. Another student was arrested at a gathering on the same lawn recognizing the one-year anniversary of that protest. 

This includes the prohibition of chalking on certain surfaces and locations, requiring identification while wearing face masks, limiting poster size and the creation of a designated “free-speech zone” in Park Plaza, which Haddad said she found “absurd.”

“You quite literally cannot implement repressive policies, violently dismantle a student encampment, withhold three students [degrees] for a picnic and then be surprised that your free speech ranking went down,” Haddad said. 

FIRE’s annual survey, introduced in 2020, serves as a tool for prospective and current students and faculty to determine their school’s standings in the promotion of free speech. The survey uses students, analysis of policy and controversy as cumulative factors in their rankings. 

“The ranking isn’t just a number,” Haddad said. “I think it really does reflect, in general, what students have already been living through; a campus where free speech is most definitely under attack.”

Aside from the degree withholdings, student perception of the university seems to be the main driver of the score drop, according to the FIRE website. 

Second-year cinematography student Angelina Medina said she sees the score decrease as especially negative in the current day and age and that it makes her feel “hopeless.”

Third-year gender, sexuality and women’s studies student Cole Holland said he does not think the VCU administration values student opinions and constitutional rights. 

“I think they’re more focused on being able to keep the university funded and running, making sure we can all get our education first, before our speech,” Holland said.

Timothy Zick, a William and Mary professor of government and citizenship, specializes in First Amendment research. VCU’s score is partly a result of students not having confidence in their school’s commitment to free speech outside of the classroom, which can lead to self-censorship, Zick said.

“One bright spot as FIRE notes for VCU is that their written policies are generally supportive of freedom of expression on campus,” Zick said. “You can have written policies, though, that are not enforced in a way that is speech protective.”

The dismantling of DEI committees and policies in March as a result of Trump’s executive order to “restore merit-based opportunity” may also coincide with these policy changes.

Zick explained that in cases like threats to federal funding the university might feel obligated to perform policy changes and have a more “personal connection” to student activity and forms of expression.

FIRE recommended VCU could raise its score by adopting the “formalizations” of free speech in the Chicago Statement for Free Speech, which adheres to a campus’s commitment to free expression and robust dialogue, and Institutional Neutrality, stating that schools should not take stances on social or political issues..

Since the 19th century, universities have been diverse centers for the impactful spread of ideas. He believes in the importance of maintaining an academic environment where students can learn to use their voices and understand different perspectives, and what those things can accomplish, Zick said. 

“All of that is only possible if students have some sort of foundational First Amendment rights,” Zick said.

EDITORS NOTE: This story has been updated to better reflect VCU’s overarching ranking in recent years, with specific regards to FIRE’s new methodology. The headline has also been updated.