Free speech on campus

Students don’t check their free speech rights at the gates of the colleges they choose to attend, whether the school is a public or private institution. But tamping down on the First Amendment is at its most deplorable when it happens at state-run public colleges.

Last month, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education published its annual “10 worst colleges for free speech,” and four of those 10 schools were public institutions: Louisiana State University, University of California-San Diego, Oklahoma University and the University of Tulsa. The issue at Tulsa was particularly curious, with the school punishing a student for what someone else said. George Barnett was disciplined after his then-fiance authored Facebook posts critical of a Tulsa professor and others in the Tulsa community.

There are hundreds more public campuses across the nation that command a red- or yellow-light rating in FIRE’s red-yellow-green system of ranking the flow of free speech.

That includes the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the University of Nevada, Reno, both of which only recently improved from red to yellow. Both schools have multiple policies that FIRE describes as ambiguous and that too easily encourage administrative abuse and application. These are lawsuits waiting to happen, and the schools are destined to lose. Since launching its Stand Up For Speech Litigation Project in July 2014, FIRE has gone a perfect 7-for-7 in lawsuit settlements against colleges.

Last week, UNLV president Len Jessup announced the hiring of Diane Chase as executive vice president and provost, making her the second-in-command. Ms. Chase comes from the University of Central Florida, which has a red-light rating with FIRE. “UNLV is a lot like the place I come from,” Ms. Chase said, noting similarities between UNLV and UCF. “And they both punch above their weight class.”

Not when it comes to campus speech. Ms. Chase and Mr. Jessup should prove UNLV punches above its weight class by adopting the University of Chicago statement on free expression. That would put UNLV among the very elite in America, among the other 25 schools — out of 440 rated — that earn FIRE’s green-light ranking.