Nearly one-fifth of college students in the U.S. believe it is acceptable to use violence as a means to shut down speech they find offensive, according to a new poll.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, joined by Real Clear Education and College Pulse, conducted a survey among 20,000 students from 55 different colleges and found disturbing trends on the nation’s campuses.
More than 18% admitted they do not have a problem with using violence to stifle campus speech, and that number rises to 21% at Ivy League schools.
“Liberal students expressed a higher acceptance of violence,” FIRE explained.
“Students identifying as extremely liberal said violence to stop a speech or event from occurring on campus was ‘always’ or ‘sometimes’ acceptable at a rate double than students identifying as extremely conservative: 13% to 6%,” it continued. “More than a quarter of extremely liberal respondents said it is ‘rarely’ acceptable, compared to 8% of extremely conservative respondents.”
More than 60% of students who identified as “extreme liberals” said it is “always” or “sometimes” acceptable to shout down a speaker, while only 15% of “extreme conservatives” agreed.
This hostile environment has forced self-identifying conservative students to self-censor, the study found.
While 55% of liberal students said they found themselves hiding their political beliefs, nearly 72% of conservative students said they believe it is necessary to do so.
Certain topics are particularly difficult to talk about, the study found. More than 40% of college students said they were afraid to talk about race, and 45% said they were afraid to talk about abortion.
Liberal students are also much more likely to be intolerant of speakers who hold opposing viewpoints.
While 71% of Republican students said they would support Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden coming to speak on their campus, only 49% of Democratic students said they would welcome President Donald Trump to speak at their college.
The research also named the best and worst colleges for free speech.
The top five best colleges for free speech were: the University of Chicago; Kansas State University;Texas A&M University; University of California, Los Angeles; and Arizona State University.
The top five worst colleges were: Syracuse University, Dartmouth College, Louisiana State University, University of Texas, and DePauw University.
