Overall Score The Overall Score is made up of 12 parts. Six measure how students feel about free speech on campus. Three look at school speech policies. The last three look at how people on campus respond during speech controversies. A higher score reflects a better free speech climate.
56.9 Treanding Up
/ 100
Overall Rank The Overall Rank shows where a school stands among the 257 institutions evaluated, based on its Overall Score.
144 Treanding Down
/ 257
Overall grade The Grade is a letter based on the college's rounded Overall Score. Scores fall into standard grade ranges from A (93-100) to F (below 60).
F
Speech Controversies Controversies are campus incidents where a student, professor, or speaker faces backlash or pressure for speech that's protected by the First Amendment or academic freedom.
2
Overview
Johns Hopkins University ranks 144 out of 257 schools in the 2026 College Free Speech Rankings with a score of 57, an F speech climate grade. The university fired lecturer Tavish Forsyth, which triggered a three-point penalty. On the policy front, Hopkins did adopt institutional neutrality, slightly boosting its score, but still earns a “yellow light” Spotlight rating that continues to weigh it down.Students paint a bleak picture. Hopkins places in the bottom 50 for “Comfort Expressing Ideas” and in the bottom 25 for perceived “Administrative Support” — two areas that together suggest a campus uneasy about open dialogue and unconvinced of administrative backing for free speech. No area lands in the top 50.
To improve, Hopkins could overhaul its remaining restrictive speech codes to earn a “green light” Spotlight rating and follow its new neutrality pledge with clear, consistent support for faculty and student expression.
Highlights
45% of students say they have self-censored on campus at least once or twice a month.
76% of students say shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking on campus is acceptable, at least in rare cases.
29% of students say using violence to stop someone from speaking on campus is acceptable, at least in rare cases.
2.94:1
There are roughly 2.94 liberal students for every one conservative student.
Spotlight Rating
Yellow
Score over time
Student Voices
Sometimes I would have conversations with my friends on campus about abortion rights, and I felt I couldn't express my beliefs without being looked down upon
Many students on my campus (at least those who I'm around) are liberal and I have very strong religious beliefs that I'm afraid people might dislike me or perceive me poorly because of them.
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Score Deep Dive
Inside the Score
Explore the key factors shaping this score. This section provides a detailed look at the data, policies, and student experiences that influence free speech on campus.
Overall Score The Overall Score is made up of 12 parts. Six measure how students feel about free speech on campus. Three look at school speech policies. The last three look at how people on campus respond during speech controversies. A higher score reflects a better free speech climate.
56.9 Treanding Up
/ 100
This score out of 100 reflects how open and supportive a campus is for free speech, based on student surveys, campus policies, and recent speech-related controversies.
Overall Rank The Overall Rank shows where a school stands among the 257 institutions evaluated, based on its Overall Score.
144 Treanding Down
/ 257
A comparison of 257 U.S. colleges and universities on free speech, based on overall scores from student surveys, campus policies, and speech-related controversies.
Overall grade The Grade is a letter based on the college's rounded Overall Score. Scores fall into standard grade ranges from A (93-100) to F (below 60).
F
A school’s speech climate, shown as a letter grade (A–F), based on its overall score from student surveys, campus policies, and speech-related controversies.
Speech Controversies Controversies are campus incidents where a student, professor, or speaker faces backlash or pressure for speech that's protected by the First Amendment or academic freedom.
2
Reflect recent incidents where a speaker, professor, student, or student group faced efforts to punish, disinvite, or silence them for expressing a controversial view.
Chicago Statement for Free Speech
Adopted
Institutional Neutrality
Adopted
Spotlight Rating
Yellow
Comfort Expressing Ideas Comfort Expressing Ideas measures how comfortable students feel sharing their views on controversial topics in different campus settings. The grade falls into standard grade ranges from A (93-100) to F (below 60).
D-
Disruptive Conduct Disruptive Conduct measures how acceptable students think it is to disrupt a campus speaker. The grade falls into standard grade ranges from A (93-100) to F (below 60).
C+
Openness Openness measures how many controversial topics students feel they can openly discuss on campus. The grade falls into standard grade ranges from A (93-100) to F (below 60).
C
Self-Censorship Self-Censorship measures how often students hold back their views on campus. The grade falls into standard grade ranges from A (93–100) to F (below 60).
D-
Administrative Support Administrative Support measures how clearly students think their school supports free speech and how likely the administration is to defend a speaker's rights during a controversy. The grade falls into standard grade ranges from A (93-100) to F (below 60).
F
Political Tolerance Political Tolerance measures how willing students are to allow controversial speakers — on both the left and right — to speak on campus, even if they disagree with their views. The grade falls into standard grade ranges from A (93-100) to F (below 60).
F
Speech Controversies
Speech Controversies: When Free Expression Is Challenged
Explore notable incidents where free speech was tested on campus. From speaker deplatformings to administrative actions, these events highlight the challenges — and consequences — of restricting expression.
Total Controversies Controversies are campus incidents where a student, professor, or speaker faces backlash or pressure for speech that's protected by the First Amendment or academic freedom.
2
Scholars Under Fire Scholar Controversies are campus incidents where a professor or academic staff member faces backlash or punishment for speech protected by academic freedom or the First Amendment.
1
Students Under Fire Student Controversies are campus incidents where a student or student group faces punishment or pressure from the school for speech that's protected by the First Amendment.
0
Deplatformings Deplatformings are the number of incidents where a scheduled event or speaker is canceled or prevented from taking place.
1
Honor Roll Statements Honor Roll Statements are the number of public messages from a college or university defending free speech during a campus controversy. Schools that make these statements can earn bonus points on their Overall Score for standing up for free expression when it counts.
0
Attempted Disruptions Attempted Disruptions are the number of incidents where people on campus try to stop a scheduled event or speaker.
0
New in 2025 The number of controversies that have occurred since the previous launch of the College Free Speech Rankings.
1
Scholars Under Fire
| Year | School | Target | Controversy Explanation | Score Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Johns Hopkins University | Tavish Forsyth | Forsyth, a queer artist and educator who served as a faculty member at the university's Center for Leadership Education where they taught communication skills, public speaking, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and also held the position of associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, a program under the Kennedy Center, posted a 35-minute video on YouTube titled "Trump Declares War on Artists | Do I Quit the Kennedy Center?" In this video, they appeared nude (with a digitally superimposed rainbow heart over their groin) and delivered a spoken-word poem protesting President Donald Trump's recent appointment as chairman of the Kennedy Center's board and his administration's policies, including the banning of drag performances and the removal of DEI initiatives. Forsyth questioned whether remaining at the Kennedy Center would make them complicit in what they described as a "hostile government takeover." Following the video's release, the Kennedy Center terminated Forsyth's contract, citing the video as "extremely disturbing," particularly given their role working with minors. Subsequently, Forsyth was also dismissed from their faculty position at Johns Hopkins University. In a personal blog post, Forsyth stated that they were fired by the university days after the video's release. | -3.0 |
Deplatformings
| Year | School | Target | Controversy Explanation | Score Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Johns Hopkins University | Mark Krikorian | The campus chapter of the Young American Foundation and the College Republicans invited Krikorian, the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies, to campus for a speech about immigration followed by a Q&A. Less than ten minutes into Krikorian's speech masked protestors in the audience used their phones to set off alarms and other sounds. Some protesters began shouting over Krikorian demanding he address their questions and calling him a "racist" and a "bigot" as Krikorian contiued speaking. Associate Vice Provost for Student Engagement and Dean of Students asked the protestors to demnstrate against Krikorian's speech in a less disruptive manner, but this request was refused. Protestors also used stink sprays to fill the room with an unpleasant odor. Eventually YAF decided to end the event early so Krikorian could speak with interested students outside the room. | -2.0 |
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Survey Results
Survey Results: Student Perspectives
See how students at Johns Hopkins University perceive free speech on their campus. This section breaks down survey responses to key questions, providing insights into overall trends as well as demographic differences in how students experience free expression.
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The College Free Speech Rankings are based on student surveys, campus policies, and recent speech-related controversies.
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