Stevens has seen a drop in its national rank in free speech, according to the 2025 College Free Speech Report published by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and College Pulse. The 2024 report saw Stevens ranked 116th of the 248 schools whose students participated in the survey, but in the 2025 report, Stevens ranks 135th overall out of the 254 schools surveyed. Stevens maintains its ‘average’ rating in free speech for both years, but there are a number of factors influencing student life that are bound to prevent free speech at this school from being ranked higher in the future.
The breakdown of the different categories in which Stevens ranked low show that students do not feel as though they are safe expressing their opinions, political or otherwise. Stevens ranked 206th in administrative support, which measures students’ perception of their school’s support for freedom of speech. Stevens also ranked 154th in openness, which is a student’s perceived ability to have conversations about difficult topics and express opinions that could support or go against the norm. Being a mostly liberal institution that lacks both racial and gender diversity, students of certain backgrounds or beliefs are often afraid of expressing their ideas because of the way those ideas will affect their perception.
Stevens ranks 142nd in self-censorship, as 52% of students say they silence themselves at least once or twice a month. Ranking 139th in conservative speaker tolerance, students with conservative views often stay silent during classroom discussions about race-related topics or political views. One student of the class of 2024 spoke about a conversation in one of their classes involving gun control, in which the majority of the class advocated for stricter gun control laws. This student had the opinion that the Second Amendment should be supported, but silenced themselves out of fear of being seen as ignorant or heartless. Another student of the class of 2027 recalled a classroom conversation about racism wherein the professor and some students painted all conservatives as evil with no exceptions. The student, who was not a conservative, said he recognized that it was wrong to demonize all conservatives because of the sins of past conservatives, but refused to share this view out of fear that the professor and students would see him as evil as well.
With the majority of undergraduate students being White, conversations about race may only involve input from minorities, as White students tend to feel uncomfortable providing input that will come across as harmful. A White student of the class of 2027 reported how they did not feel comfortable saying anything during a class discussion on American slavery because of the little authority his race gave him. They felt as though taking a stand could make them seem, “too sympathetic to slavery or too woke by [their] peers.” With racial minorities, especially Black students, being underrepresented, some White students have a common fear that they have no authority to form opinions about racial discrimination. There is always a fear that going against the opinions of minorities will make them seem evil, while supporting the opinions of minorities will make it seem as though they are over-compensating or helping to push an agenda. This lose-lose scenario creates a monopoly on who gets to speak on certain topics, which divides students even further and creates an environment where forming an opinion on certain things can feel like the wrong thing to do.
Stevens’ lack of freedom of speech stems from the conversations that don’t happen due to a lack of willingness to share controversial ideas. One student of the class of 2024 stated that the upcoming election is yet another controversial issue people avoid talking about, as people who plan to vote for a candidate whom others are against run the risk of breaking relationships. It is true that certain ideals have been harmful to people in the past, but the act of making people uncomfortable expressing themselves at their school creates a much more toxic environment with more close-minded people. The conversations we avoid are the ones that will have a great impact on the lives of students, and all voices deserve to be heard.
