麻豆传媒映画

In the 2021 Florida legislative session, House Bill 233 to require Florida College System (FCS) and State University System (SUS) institutions to conduct an annual assessment of intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity. The second wave of this survey has been completed, capturing the voices and views of over 49,000 students and nearly 12,000 faculty and staff across twelve colleges and universities. While the initial round of surveys had , this iteration saw healthy voluntary response rates of almost 15 percent for students and 12 percent for faculty and staff. The survey aimed to capture views about open expression and viewpoint diversity on Florida’s SUS campuses.

In response to the survey, there have been numerous complaints about its intent, including the from the United Faculty of Florida that taking a 10-minute survey “diverts valuable time from our core missions of teaching and research.” Setting up and promoting a webpage in opposition to the survey likely took more time than completing the survey itself. Moreover, the claim that “the survey’s detailed demographic questions pose a risk, especially to minority faculty, potentially influencing tenure decisions and fostering a discriminatory environment” is unfounded, as responses are anonymous and confidential. There is neither a way nor an interest in tracking individual faculty; the project's goal is simply to assess how intellectually open and comfortable students and staff are in engaging with questions and fulfilling the of higher education’s mission—the search for truth.

The new round of robust data establishes a baseline for Florida’s higher education system, providing insights into where the system can improve and how schools can track that improvement over time. The data reveal that students, faculty, and staff largely agree on the importance of protecting a wide array of ideas. Notably, faculty and staff are more likely to self-censor than the students they serve, suggesting room for improvement in fostering open expression across campus.

The survey reveals alignment between students and staff regarding free speech and the exchange of ideas on campus. Both groups overwhelmingly agree that political correctness has stifled important societal discussions and that universities should expose students to all types of viewpoints, even those that may be offensive or biased against certain groups, rather than prohibiting such speech. In strong contrast to some recent protesters’ claims that speech can be a form of violence, overwhelming majorities of both groups believe it’s important for campus life to maintain a clear distinction between speech and violence.

In practice, State University System of Florida faculty and staff are more likely than students to oppose restrictions on speech. When asked about the acceptability of shouting down a speaker or preventing them from speaking on campus, 37 percent of staff believe this is never acceptable, compared to 29 percent of students. Similarly, 59 percent of students say blocking others from attending a campus speech is never acceptable, while a higher percentage of staff—70 percent—agree. Florida faculty and staff are thus more likely than students to support allowing ideas to be expressed, even when they find them offensive.

Regrettably, faculty and staff differ from students in their views on political viewpoint diversity. While 69 percent of students believe their college or university promotes or encourages diverse political viewpoints, only 48 percent of faculty and staff agree. When asked about self-censorship—specifically, whether they refrain from expressing opinions due to concerns about student, professor, or administrative responses—18 percent of students report that they very or fairly often self-censor, while 53 percent say they rarely or never do. In contrast, 4 in 10 faculty and staff regularly self-censor, and only 33 percent rarely or never feel the need to silence themselves. This Florida finding aligns with a recent study from Harvard, which that half of Harvard faculty are at least somewhat reluctant to teach controversial topics, and over two-thirds hesitate to discuss them with colleagues outside the classroom

The new survey data reveal that Florida’s faculty and staff are more fearful of cancel culture and self-censor at higher rates than the students they teach. While this problem requires attention, the very positive news is that a large majority of students, faculty, and staff fully appreciate the value of diverse ideas and want to ensure Florida’s higher education system remains a place where questions, debates, and dialogue thrive.