FIRE brass and I answer member questions!
Watch us discuss freedom of the press, J. Ann Selzer, Indiana University, Charlie Kirk, and more.
Yesterday I joined FIRE’s Legal Director Will Creeley, Chief Operating Officer Alisha Glennon, and Executive Vice President and host of the
podcast for another one of our FIRE Monthly Member Calls, where we get to engage directly with FIRE members and answer their questions.It’s always a great time, but sadly it’s never enough time to get to all the things we’d love to talk about and all the really good and interesting questions our members ask us. We joked towards the end that we should try doing a marathon call sometime soon so we can really dig in — and we just might!
Still, I do think we covered a lot of ground here, and a lot of really interesting and important free speech topics, including:
Whether freedom of the press applies to corporations or organizations, since most people didn’t have a printing press in their basements back when the First Amendment was drafted.
FIRE’s position on the Oklahoma student who got a failing grade on a paper where she exclusively cited scripture.
How we should interpret progress on one front with a particular school, like Iowa State University, happening at the same time as regress on another front at that same school. What does progress in our mission actually look like?
The terrible free speech violations at Indiana State University — Nico’s alma mater.
The latest in the J. Ann Selzer case.
How FIRE members and supporters can volunteer and form alumni groups.
Whether there was legitimate cause for some of the people who made negative comments following Charlie Kirk’s assassination to be fired.
How we stay hopeful in this tumultuous time for free speech.
And much more!
Another great question we got was, basically, “Besides money, what else does FIRE need from its members?” Alisha gave a pitch-perfect answer, but I’ll just reiterate and paraphrase it here:
Besides donating to FIRE and becoming a member, the best way you can help is to tell your friends about us and our work, cite our research and promote our advocacy, use our arguments in everyday conversation, and most importantly, stay principled in your defense of free expression. We say it over and over again because it’s that important: Defending the right of people you disagree with to voice ideas you hate is the only real way to ensure your own right to speak is never infringed.
I get how tough that is, but that’s why it’s called the eternally radical idea. And it’s why we need to keep growing as a movement. We’re incredibly proud to have you all in our corner, but if we want to safeguard freedom of speech on our campuses, in our courtrooms, and in our culture, it’s going to take a whole lot more people talking the talk and walking the walk.
Tune into the webinar in the video below, become a member if you’d like to join the next one and submit questions, and stay tuned for more soon!
