The increase in student-led protests at U.S.-based colleges and universities surrounding the October 2023 Israel-Hamas conflict has brought free speech on campus, back into popular discourse. After the actions and suspensions of some student groups led to televised congressional hearings and then the resignation of two elite university presidents, defining and outlining free speech on campus appeared to be at a stalemate.
are attempting to keep the dialogue going. is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works on a national scale to spread awareness regarding free speech rights on college campuses. “We're seeing large amounts of students professing self-censorship and the culture of free speech being deteriorated on college campuses,” Zach Greenberg said, the senior program officer within campus advocacy at
. “And so while the law remains solid, we do worry about how it's being applied and how universities actually are defending students’ free speech rights.” By expressing and exercising their free speech rights, student-led groups have consistently influenced federal legislation especially during the 1960s and 1970s.