Thirty percent of college students say violence acceptable way to stop speakers on campuses, survey finds, tell me about this news in (https://www.foxnews.com/media/thirty-percent-college-students-say-violence-acceptable-way-stop-speakers-campuses-survey-finds)
12-09-2026
The Fox News report details findings from an annual campus speech survey conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which polled nearly 63,000 undergraduate students across 262 U.S. colleges and universities.Key Findings of the Report
- Acceptance of Violence: Thirty percent of college students nationwide stated that using violence can be an acceptable tactic to stop a controversial speaker from appearing on campus. Among respondents, 3% viewed violence as “always acceptable,” 12% as “sometimes acceptable,” and 16% as “rarely acceptable.” Conversely, 70% maintained that violence is never acceptable.
- Historical Trends: While the 30% figure represents a slight decrease from the record high of 34% reported in 2025, it remains 10 percentage points higher than it was four years earlier.
- Shouting Down Speakers: A significant majority69% of studentsindicated that shouting down a campus speaker to prevent them from speaking is acceptable to some degree (down from 72% in 2025, but up 7 percentage points over four years).
- Ideological Shift: According to FIRE researchers, earlier surveys showed liberal students were approximately twice as likely as conservative students to accept violence against speakers. In recent years, however, acceptance rates have increased among moderate and conservative students (especially male students), leaving support for disruptive and violent tactics roughly equal across ideological lines.
- Context and Free Speech Climate: The report was published a year after the fatal shooting of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk during a campus debate event at Utah Valley University in September 2025. Researchers noted that while awareness of political violence may have slightly curbed the peak numbers, speech remains chilled across campuses due to fear of physical harm.
- Top-Ranked Schools: Alongside student sentiment data, FIRE released its annual College Free Speech Rankings, naming the University of Chicago, Claremont McKenna College, Georgia Institute of Technology, Michigan Technological University, and Vanderbilt University as the top five institutions for protecting open expression.