Kaitlyn Hughes | editor-in-chief

Duquesne University received a failing grade for free speech Wednesday from an organization whose goal is to protect students’ fundamental rights.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) released its College Free Speech Rankings, which works to improve free speech on college campuses throughout the nation.

The organization surveyed more than 62,000 students across 250 colleges to get their own opinion on how they feel about first amendment-related questions such as their political tolerance, frequency of self-censorship and comfort level of expressing their views. They also look into the school’s policies and determine whether or not they restrict free speech.

Duquesne ranked 181st out of 261 schools, with 294 students surveyed. According to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning, Duquesne had a total of 8,294 students enrolled during the fall 2025 semester.

“Duquesne also has a longstanding commitment to civil discourse and creating an environment in which students can respectfully engage with different viewpoints, challenge ideas and disagree on difficult issues,” Gabriel Welsch, vice president for marketing and communications, said in a statement to The Duke.

Along with Duquesne, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh received failing grades, ranking 187th and 205th, respectively.

“Carnegie Mellon remains committed to upholding the highest standards of free expression, academic freedom and civil discourse while also ensuring the safety and well-being of our campus community,” said Chuck Carney, Senior Director of Reputation and Issues Management at CMU. “We take this responsibility seriously and continually review policies and practices to ensure they reflect both our legal obligations and our university community’s shared values.”

The University of Pittsburgh didn’t respond to a request for comment.

This year, 121 out of 261 schools received F rankings. In last year’s rankings, 166 out of 257 schools received F rankings.

Chapin Lenthall-Cleary, who is a FIRE data analyst, said there are a “constellation of factors” leading to failed freedom of speech rankings.

Political polarization is reflected in people assuming that those who disagree with them are “evil or stupid or uninformed,” he said.

“If there is some magic silver bullet that’s exactly the thing that’s wrong, I haven’t found it,” Lenthall-Cleary said.

Paul Horne and Alyssa Warholic, who are co-presidents of the Speech and Debate club at Duquesne, said they have seen this in real time in the classroom — students are more shy to speak up.

“It’s generally the hot button issues. People are afraid of being wrong,” Horne said, noting that the university promotes free speech, but students are still scared to speak up.

But when it comes to the organization, Warholic said everyone is exercising free speech.

“I never ever once feared I couldn’t do a topic because someone would say something negative,” she said. “Speech and debate is very much a place where everyone gets a voice.”

The FIRE report cited the Student Government’s Association denial of the proposed Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter in November. The club was rejected with a vote of 21-1 with one senator abstaining from the decision.

TPUSA’s mission, which was stated during its official proposition, is to serve God first and foremost, guided by Duquesne’s Catholic mission, and to hold discussions and events surrounding current events, according to their constitution.

According to a report from The Duke last year, students had mixed views about the club. Some said the organization is less accepting of people, and they were worried it might put Duquesne in a “bad light.” But students also recognized the importance of free speech and political discourse on campus.

SGA President Mwango Kasuba, who was a member of the senate during the time of the vote, said the decision was debated and voted on by the senate.

“It wasn’t us shutting them down,” Kasuba said. “The senate thought it was best to not have it”

The organization consistently encourages people to come in and voice their opinions about organizations and other campus matters, he said.

“No one was shut down last year from speaking, and moving forward no one will be shut down from speaking,” Kasuba said.

Paige Gritzke, who proposed the Duquesne chapter of TPUSA, was not available for comment.

“The university supports the Student Government Association and the established process it follows to review student organization requests, applying the same standards and policies to all groups. That process, which included student feedback, guided SGA’s decision,” Welsch said in a statement.

Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who has published work that examines campus politics in the United States, said that when free speech is inhibited on college campuses, people learn less.

An important thing someone can do when they disagree with another person’s perspective is try to understand them, Zimmerman said.

“If someone supports something you think is heinous, your job is to understand why,” he said. “Our method of understanding is speech.”

FIRE’s report on Pitt mentioned how the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) was placed on interim suspension in March 2025.

The suspension was authorized following an open letter from the SJP to the university that was also sent to members of the hearing board, in a response to disciplinary hearings about a solidarity “study in” the organization held in December at Hillman Library.

In August 2025, a federal judge ordered that the university lift the suspension of the pro-Palestinian group after granting a motion seeking preliminary injunction. The judge found that the protests and speech the group engaged in prior to suspension was protected by the First Amendment.

In a statement to The Duke, SJP said Pitt censored them for years, and they condemn this behavior.

“Our suspension confirmed Pitt’s goal to silence its students’ objections to the university’s complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza and illegal occupation in Palestine,” the statement read.

Kaitlyn Hughes can be reached at hughesk10@duq.edu