FIRE Finds 30% of College Students Accept Violence to Stop Speakers, Down 4 Points
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 11
FIRE Finds 30% of College Students Accept Violence to Stop Speakers, Down 4 Points
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 11
Summary
Thirty percent of U.S. college students said violence is at least rarely acceptable to stop a campus speaker, including 3% who called it always acceptable, according to FIRE's new survey.
The share fell from 34% in 2025, but remains 10 points above the level four years ago, while 70% said violence is never acceptable.
FIRE also found 69% of students consider shouting down a speaker acceptable—down 3 points from last year but still up 7 points from four years earlier.
The group said attitudes may have shifted after Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a Utah Valley University event in September 2025, though support for violence remains high enough to chill campus speech.
FIRE's 2027 College Free Speech Rankings, based on surveys of 62,997 students at 262 schools, listed the University of Chicago, Claremont McKenna, Georgia Tech, Michigan Tech and Vanderbilt as the top five campuses.