In its 2027 ranking, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) placed Kenyon 76 out of 261 schools for freedom of speech, with a score of 63.6 out of 100.
The annual FIRE rankings assess how supportive a college campus is of free speech, based on students’ survey responses and administrative policy around speech and suppression. The survey questions ask about comfort levels with expressing alternative views and opinions on campus and fear of retribution.
FIRE’s 2027 assessment scored Kenyon at a D overall, with an F in political tolerance. This grade is partially based on policy decisions around speech, as Kenyon has adopted the “Chicago Statement” for free speech, but still lacks an explicit statement of institutional neutrality. Still, the greatest factor in this scoring is student response, as instituting the Chicago Statement would only raise Kenyon to 66.6 out of 100 on FIRE’s scale. This year, the University of Chicago placed first, scoring a B-.
To assess the state of free speech at Kenyon, the Collegian conducted a series of interviews with members of the Kenyon faculty who’ve been particularly outspoken around the topic of free speech: Professor of Religious Studies Vernon Schubel, Assistant Professor of Political Science Lisa Leibowitz and Professor of History Glenn McNair.
Leibowitz stated that she felt there was not “an environment where people feel like they can use their speech without being punished in a sub-government way,” and assessed that deeply unpopular opinions were under threat, especially ones expressed by conservative students. “We’re not protected against being canceled at Kenyon,” she said.
Leibowitz contended that, because Kenyon is a majority liberal campus, many conservatives feel they are unable to express their true feelings for fear of being “canceled,” or not taken seriously. “We name, call and label, and that’s enough to refute someone,” Leibowitz said.
In contrast, Schubel argued that conservative voices aren’t necessarily suppressed at Kenyon. “We have a number of faculty on this campus who have very conservative political leanings and they feel perfectly free to voice the things they say,” Schubel told the Collegian. “I don’t think that this is the huge problem that people think. What I don’t want to talk about is whether things are right or left. It’s not a useful way to divide all human knowledge.”
Self-censorship was noted in FIRE’s report as one of the most common indicators of an unhealthy speech environment at Kenyon, with 30% of students admitting they have self-censored at least once or twice a month. McNair said that he has seen self-censorship in his classes: “If the topic is one that is in any way controversial, students are going to be reluctant to speak on it. So oftentimes I have to step in and be that alternative voice to say the thing or ask the question. And afterward I’ve had students say, ‘I wanted to say something, but I was afraid of what my peers might think.’”
The topic of cancel culture at Kenyon College is a pertinent issue in both student and faculty minds. “It might be being unfriended or getting the cold shoulder — that sort of thing — the problem is we’re out in the middle of nowhere,” Leibowitz stated. “On campus, why should there be consequences? If you aren’t exposed to somebody who has a different opinion and an opinion you hate, you will not have the motivation; you will not even recognize that you don’t know what you think you know. This is the worst kind of ignorance,” Leibowitz said.
Schubel argued otherwise. “You have the right to say what you want, but you have to be willing to take the discourse back,” he said. “The sense that I have on the Kenyon campus is that free speech seems to be okay. We had polite but substantive responses to — for example — what happened in Gaza.”
Although the professors disagreed about the specifics, they agreed that part of the value of a liberal arts education is highlighting deeply unpopular opinions.“You don’t need any protection for ideas that everybody agrees with. … It’s those ideas that are real and relevant that might really piss off and offend people. … It’s those ideas that people need to be free to express,” McNair said.
Leibowitz furthered this point. “College is a time for experimentation for all kinds of different opinions,” Leibowitz said. “If you’re just told, ‘Hey, these are the good opinions and these are the bad opinions; have these opinions, don’t have those opinions,’ you’re still in nursery school.”
Though they differed in their assessments of the free speech environment at Kenyon, all the professors interviewed agreed on the necessity of free speech in education. Their sentiment was this: To operate in a polarized world, you must be able to navigate polarizing discourse.
McNair said, “Sometimes words don’t settle it all. But it’s like, what’s the alternative — don’t freely express your ideas? We don’t talk about things? Just take out the swords and just solve it that way?”