Yale Free Speech Survey Suggests Change Is In The Air
Silver lining-seekers will find glimmers of hope in a new Buckley Institute report
The Buckley Institute’s second annual Yale Undergraduate Student Survey was just released. And silver lining-seekers will find a lot to applaud in the results. Major problems persist but free speech isn’t a neglected topic on campus any longer, due in part to Yale administrators who focus on it more and students who appear to be picking up on those queues.
A College Pulse survey of 502 undergraduates last fall detected growing support for free speech among undergrads, particularly freshmen. Student familiarity with The Woodward Report, Yale’s foundational free speech document, still needs improvement but rose by 8 percentage points from 2023. Many more students reported hearing free speech discussed and debated as a topic in 2024. Additionally, 60% of respondents favored institutional neutrality on controversial issues — a reform that the school has thus far regrettably declined to embrace.
But there’s more.
Tolerance for shout-downs and the “heckler’s veto” also significantly declined among Yale students, with only 25% condoning such actions, as compared to 33% in 2023. Support for disciplinary action against students who disrupt speech increased to 67%, up from 50% last year. The willingness to host speakers with controversial views also rose, with 92% of students supporting this principle compared to 87% in 2023.
Challenges persist, however. Nearly 40% of students admitted to self-censoring, with a notable divide along political lines: 75% of Republican students reported self-censorship (not surprisingly), compared to 26% of Democrats and 47% of independents.
Institute Founder and Executive Director Lauren Noble drew hope from the findings. “While there is always more work to do, it is encouraging to see that our efforts to support free speech on Yale’s campus are making a difference,” said Noble. “Yale students are more open to challenging ideas, more confident in sharing their own perspectives in class, and less tolerant of shout-downs than in 2023. At the same time, it is concerning that so many Yalies still support censoring their peers, a shockingly low 30% of whom are aware of their Woodward Report free speech rights.”
These survey results are encouraging but not a total shock, given the winds of change we’ve seen blowing through academia. Some credit for this is owed to higher levels of engagement on free speech issues by grassroots alumni groups like Fight for Yale’s Future. Alumni are stepping off the sidelines in greater numbers to administer tough love to alma maters that stray from the values that made them great — starting with an uncompromising support for free speech. That grassroots engagement is getting the attention of university officials and spurring some of the positive change we’re seeing at Yale and elsewhere. It’s AFSA’s mission to welcome signs of progress and keep the momentum going.
Read the Institute’s press release here. The report can be downloaded here. Click here to learn more about AFSA’s affiliate group at the school, Fight for Yale’s Future.
