USC ranked as one of the bottom 10 schools for free speech among over 250 colleges and universities nationwide, according to a ranking released Sept. 5 by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Students were surveyed nationwide from Jan. 25 through June 17. 

The organization reported students had lower confidence in USC’s protection of free speech and a higher percentage of students are more uncomfortable expressing controversial opinions. Among surveyed USC students, 57% answered they would be “somewhat uncomfortable” or “very uncomfortable” with sharing views on a controversial political topic with other students in a common campus space outside of class. 

Before the “Gaza Solidarity Occupation” took place last Spring, 88% of students said it was “somewhat clear,” “very clear” or “extremely clear” that the University protects free speech on campus, but that figure dropped to around half of students after the survey re-opened during the encampments.

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After analyzing how different elements of the survey were weighted, Nathan Honeycutt — a research fellow at FIRE and one of the report authors — said the main factor behind USC’s low ranking was the cancellation of valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s commencement speech, and later the entire commencement ceremony, in the spring.

“All these big events create a chilling environment on campus,” Honeycutt said. 

FIRE surveyed students using College Pulse, later re-opening the survey for 30 campuses, including USC, during the Spring 2024 encampments. The final ranking was calculated through a combination of metrics from the survey, as well as official student speech policies and positive or negative incidents related to free speech. 

Compared to last year, Honeycutt said, USC has dropped in several of FIRE’s metrics, including administrative support and disruptive conduct. Overall, USC has fallen from 109th out of 254 surveyed institutions last year to 245th out of 257 colleges and universities this year. 

In an email to the Daily Trojan, the University pointed to its University Values page as well as a community-wide email sent Aug. 20 by President Carol Folt, Provost and Senior Vice President Andrew Guzman and Senior Vice President for Health Affairs Steven Shapiro. 

“The legitimate expression of differing opinions and concerns, including unpopular, controversial or dissident viewpoints, is an essential element of the academic process,” USC wrote on the University Values page. “All members of the university community have a responsibility to provide and maintain an atmosphere of free inquiry and expression respecting the fundamental human rights of others, the rights of others based upon the nature of the educational process, and the rights of the institution.”

In the same message, USC also adopted a policy of institutional neutrality, a position that several universities, including Harvard, Syracuse and the University of Texas system, have taken in recent years.

“Going forward as individual leaders or on behalf of the university, we will not post statements or take sides in political or social debates unless it pertains directly to our institutional mission and operations,” the University wrote.

A week after the cancellation of Tabassum’s commencement speech, pro-Palestine demonstrators set up a “Gaza Solidarity Occupation” at Alumni Park. The encampments were eventually cleared by the Department of Public Safety and the Los Angeles Police Department. LAPD arrested 93 protesters, and at least 12 student protesters received interim or full suspensions from the University.

Additionally, in September 2023, an Armenian student group and supporters protested an event hosting Turkish ambassador Hasan Murat Mercan due to the Turkish government’s denial of the Armenian genocide as well as what opponents of the event viewed as poor timing following the dissolution of the Republic of Artsakh less than a week prior. DPS forcibly removed protestors from the event.

Kristen Shahverdian, the program director at PEN America — a nonprofit organization advocating for free expression — said there can be value to universities taking official positions on an issue. 

“Our position at PEN is that it can be a powerful tool for leadership to make statements that really proclaim their values that help the public, as well as their campus community,” Shahverdian said.

However, she said communicating those values to the public can be a “real challenge” when universities only speak out on certain issues. 

Honeycutt praised USC’s adoption of institutional neutrality, which he sees as a major step toward a strong free speech environment on campus as well as a convenient way for the University to stay out of controversial incidents. 

Shahverdian said FIRE’s report had some “interesting” data, particularly on students’ beliefs before and during the encampment movement on whether their university would protect free expression. However, she said FIRE’s survey — like similar surveys conducted by other organizations — shouldn’t be taken to represent the views of all students at a campus or to apply to every university. 

Shahverdian said students’ personal experiences play a large part in their perceptions and thus you cannot take surveys to speak for the whole population. 

However, Shahverdian said surveys can provide “anecdotes” and “a sense of the overarching picture” among campuses nationwide.

Honeycutt added FIRE would be releasing more detailed reports for certain schools, including USC, that were not available at the time of the article’s publishing.

“[USC had] a really unfortunate drop, but I would say that even though USC is ranked very poorly and has a lot of room for improvement, recovery isn’t impossible,” Honeycutt said. “I would hope that USC leaders would look at this ranking as an opportunity to say, ‘OK, we have a lot of improvement [to do]. Let’s get to work and let’s do the work to make this possible.’”