CT university students hide political beliefs in fear of retribution; Many conservatives ‘in the closet’: Survey

Connecticut’s top colleges and universities are falling behind other academic institutions in terms of their real and perceived commitment to First Amendment rights, according to a new College Free Speech Rankings report released Thursday by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression .

According to the report from the watchdog and advocacy group known as FIRE, an average of 32.8% of students at the University of Connecticut, Yale, Trinity College, Wesleyan University and Connecticut College said it was “very clear” or “extremely clear” that their school protects free speech on campus. A majority of students, a number of whom anecdotally identified as pro-Palestinian or politically conservative, also expressed that they have engaged in self-censorship on campus.

The study, conducted from Jan. 25 through June 17 on 257 campuses in collaboration with College Pulse , combines an analysis of student survey responses, university policies, incidents on campus and administrative responses to controversy to produce an overall free speech score and campus climate ratings.

FIRE CEO Greg Lukainoff said the national rankings “highlight a pivotal moment in higher education, where the tension between maintaining a free speech environment and navigating deeply polarizing issues is more pronounced than ever,” in a press release Thursday.

“The Middle East crisis plunged campuses into absolute chaos last academic year and administrators largely failed in their response, clamping down on free speech protections instead of fostering spaces for open dialogue,” Lukianoff said. “The nightmare scenarios of last spring cannot be repeated this fall. Colleges need to reassert their mantle of being marketplaces of ideas, not bubbles of groupthink and censorship.”

The top-ranked Connecticut School, Trinity, made it into the top 100 with a rank of 92 out of 251. Of 100 possible points, Trinity earned 50.51 on its overall free speech score with an "Average" speech climate. It also received a "yellow light" rating, which, according to FIRE, "indicates that an institution maintains at least one policy that places a clear restriction on a more limited amount of protected expression, or one that, by virtue of vague wording, could too easily be used to restrict protected expression."

Wesleyan ranked 152 with a score of 44.29, a “Slightly Below Average” speech climate rating and a yellow light. Yale ranked 155 with 44.04 and received a “Slightly Below Average” speech climate rating and yellow light. UConn ranked 196 with a score of 39.68, a “Below Average” speech climate and a yellow light.

At the bottom of the Connecticut campuses, Connecticut College ranked 202. With a score of 38.89, Connecticut College’s speech climate was ranked “Below Average” and received a “red light” which “ indicates that the institution has at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech,” according to FIRE.

The top-ranked school in the nation, the University of Virginia earned an overall score of 73.41 with a “good” speech climate and “green light” indicating “that an institution maintains no policies that seriously threaten speech.” The lowest, Columbia and Harvard, scored 0.008 with an “abysmal” climate rating.

The study, which also included a survey of more than 58,807 undergraduates across the country including more than 1,100 from Connecticut, revealed troubling data on self-censorship trends in and out of the classroom.

On average, nearly 88% of respondents on the Connecticut campuses said that they have felt that they "could not express (their) opinion on a subject because of how other students, a professor, or the administration would respond" with nearly 48% reporting this feeling at least “once or twice a month.”

An average of 68% of Connecticut respondents said that they have hidden their “political beliefs from (their) professors in an attempt to get a better grade,” at least once.

Nationally, the FIRE report found that politically conservative students are more likely to self-censor in the classroom and in conversations with professors and peers.

According to the report, 34% of all respondents who identified as “very conservative” said that the self-censored “very” or “fairly” often, compared to just 15% of students who identified as “very liberal.”

“People don't want to open up (about) their views,” Jonathan Portanova, the chairman of the Connecticut Federation of College Republicans said. “They don't want to be listed as an outcast. These days, it's so polarized, people lose friendships over political views.”

The Federation holds chapters at UConn Stamford, the University of New Haven, Sacred Heart University and Southern Connecticut State University, but Portanova said the number has waned in recent years as chapters at UConn Storrs, Connecticut College and Trinity dissolved.

Portanova said he believes anti-conservative attitudes “absolutely” play a role.

Portanova described how many conservative students will “stay in the closet” and will “not really come out as a conservative,” often because they think concealing their political identity will lead to better grades.

While Portanova said some professors hold right-wing views, he said the overwhelming perception is that most “lean to the left.”

As an undergrad at UConn Stamford, Portanova said students would agree with the professor, rather than forming their own argument.

After Portanova’s class learned that he was president of the UConn Stamford Republicans, Portanova said his fellow students “chose not to socialize with” him.

“My classmates pretty much looked at me like I was an outcast,” Portanova said.

While running the club, Portanova said he would hear phrases like “you guys are no good” and “I really hate your kind” echo from the mouths of students and even faculty.

Portanova said free speech “opens up the world of debate and critical thinking. But, in order to foster free expression, Portanova said colleges and universities should commit to hosting more debates, students need to receive more education about political ideologies, and professors must make a conscious effort to raise multiple viewpoints.

“The professor can actually … play devil's advocate and say, ‘Hey, can this idea be this? (And) this idea is not wrong, it's just another different ideology or philosophy or theory. That's all it is,’” Portanova said.

When asked to “share a moment where you personally felt you could not express your opinion on your campus,” many students on Connecticut campuses described experiences that mirrored Portanova’s.

One student from the Yale class of 2025 said they said kept quiet when professors made jokes about former President Donald Trump and conservative voters, even though they disagreed with the sentiment.

“I did not want my classmates to think I was a ‘crazy Trump supporter,’” the students said. “Also I think it’s easier to get an A when professors like you.”

Another student from the UConn class of 2025 said they were “called a Nazi for disagreeing with the removal of all student loan debt.”

On the other side of the spectrum, students who expressed support for Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war said they were fearful of sharing their pro-Palestinian views.

“I am a pacifist, but I know that I would get called an antisemite by about half of the students I know on campus if I publicly stated that I support a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Gaza,” a Wesleyan student from the class of 2025 said.

Other survey respondents said they are concerned about administrative reactions to their speech.

One Yale student in the class of 2024 said they “have been afraid to express pro-Palestine sentiments in fear of reprimand from administration."

In a statement Tuesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on its members to demand that college and university administrators across the country “protect academic freedom and free speech on campus this academic year.”

In the release, CAIR said students have been “censored, silenced, or suppressed” and that universities “have reportedly failed to protect these peacefully protesting students from physical attacks, verbal harassment, and doxing.”

“Many of these universities are seeking to admit students who respect free speech and can engage in controversial and uncomfortable conversation. We’re simply demanding that these same principles be extended to students who are standing up against genocide, apartheid, and occupation,” CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor said in the statement.

Connecticut respondents to the FIRE survey overwhelmingly identified the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a top contentious topic on college campuses.

On average, 68% of students at each Connecticut university said it is “difficult to have an open and honest conversation about” the conflict on their campus. In comparison, racial inequality, the second most-selected subject by Connecticut students in this question category, was identified as a difficult topic by an average of just 36%.

In addition to the rankings, FIRE released an accompanying report assessing the impact of the encampment protest movement on the campus environment by re-surveying a mix of 30 campuses. No Connecticut schools were included in this secondary analysis.

Angela Erickson, FIRE’s vice president of research, said the encampments brought about notable shifts.

On the campuses where students were arrested at protests, like UConn and Yale, Erickson said reports of self-censorship increased.

Even at schools that had no encampments, Erickson said the use of police force on campuses across the country has led to an increase in students reporting “fear for their own safety.”

“(It) has risen across schools and it's risen higher on schools that had encampments (and) even higher on schools that had arrests and encampments,” Erickson said. “To learn, you need to feel safe and if there are students who don't feel safe in that environment, that's going to be problematic for the school's mission.”

Erickson said FIRE’s encampment report also revealed significant gaps in student awareness of school free speech policies and protected protest actions.

“A great deal of students don't know what is and is not allowed on their campus when it comes to expressing themselves and what is not and is not free expression. And this really does require administrations to proactively inform students of what these policies are, especially (as) they're going into the fall semester,” Erickson said.

At the same time, Erickson said colleges and universities must protect the rights to free speech and academic freedom “while placing reasonable time, place and manner restrictions so that they can continue to operate as a school.”

“The tensions from the spring aren't settled,” Erickson said. “Things are going to start happening again and it's really important for the administration to use this as an opportunity to educate students on what their free speech rights are, how to use civil discourse to gain an understanding and to … express themselves in a way that's not disruptive to the campus environment.”

When it comes to free speech, Erickson emphasized the importance of the old mantra, “sunlight is the greatest disinfectant.”

“The more you can talk and the more people can share their ideas, the clearer people can get and the closer people can get to whatever their truth is,” Erickson said.

Universities respond

In a response to the FIRE report, Connecticut College said it is “committed to the fundamental principle and practice of freedom of expression,” in a statement to the Courant Wednesday.

“We believe that a diverse range of perspectives enriches the academic experience and fosters critical thinking. During this challenging time in domestic and global affairs, we are reviewing our policies to ensure that our campus continues to provide a safe, respectful and inclusive environment where open dialogue is encouraged for all members of our community,” Connecticut College said.

In a statement to the Courant, University Spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said “UConn encourages and upholds free speech on all of its campuses as a bedrock principle of our University and society.”

“We would not typically comment on a poll for which we are not privy to the data and methodology, beyond noting that it appears to reflect about 1% of our approximately 33,000-student population,” Reitz added.

Kristen Cole, the senior director of strategic content and media relations for Trinity, said “New information is always welcome” and that the college “is a community where administrators, faculty, students, and staff know each other and are encouraged to express themselves so long as they are respectful and do not violate the Student Handbook.”

“It’s difficult to comment on survey responses we haven’t seen, but we appreciate the feedback as we assess how we move forward in the fall,” Cole said in a statement.

Cole said Trinity is introducing a new “Dialogue Project” to “facilitate informed debate and civil discourse” through a “small-group workshops and conversations.” Cole said Trinity is also continuing its “Bridging Divides Series” which brings “together different perspectives and viewpoints, with the goal of promoting empathy and seeking common ground.”

In the lead-up to the 2024 election, Cole said Trinity, “As always … will promote nonpartisan civic engagement, encouraging voter participation and hosting community gatherings at key points in this fall’s election process.”

Cole also highlighted a quote from Trinity President Joanne Berger-Sweeney’s welcome back message to students in which Berger-Sweeney emphasized the importance of free speech on campus.

“We must foster and protect an atmosphere that is conducive to free expression and the examination of truth—even when we disagree passionately—without fear of harm or retribution. We affirm our community values when we foster opportunities for all students to develop their intellect and moral character while respecting the social norms that govern community life,” Berger-Sweeney wrote. “As we move into the fall, we will create more opportunities to learn from one another, to engage in dialogue across differences, and to model the community we wish to be.”

Representatives of Yale and Wesleyan did not respond to requests for comment.