Free speech and expression on campus
As a public university, Penn State is committed to upholding its obligation to protect free speech. As a bedrock principle of our democratic society, Penn State fully supports the fundamental right of free speech – even speech that tests the limits of our tolerance.
Free speech and expression of ideas are essential to higher education’s academic and civic missions. Listen as University President Neeli Bendapudi discusses the unique role that public institutions like Penn State play in supporting and protecting the First Amendment – a law that guarantees the basic freedom to think and express ourselves as we wish.
Expand your knowledge
The U.S. Constitution enumerates freedom of speech as a fundamental right and Penn State supports it, as well as the open exchange of ideas while preserving the campus for its primary purpose of education.
University Statement on Free Speech and Freedom of Expression
As a land-grant institution, Penn State embraces its role in promoting and supporting the First Amendment and values the legal protections it offers for free expression, inquiry, and thought – all foundational to our mission of discovering and disseminating ideas through research, teaching and learning.
The First Amendment allows us to speak, write, publish, create, exchange ideas, and apply knowledge without fear of government retaliation or censorship. As a public institution, Penn State is a government institution. Failing to protect these freedoms violates law and would erode the basic freedom each of us shares to express ourselves as we wish.
Some of the greatest advances in human development have come from our ability to freely discuss and, even dispute, views with which we disagree. In fact, the dynamic exchange of diverse ideas is fundamental to a public research university.