Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for September 6, 2017
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
September 6, 2017: Since 2015, protests have caused 37 speakers to be disinvited from giving speeches at colleges and universities in the United States—while nearly 40 more were threatened with disinvitations from protesters. According to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), 28 of the speakers were disinvited due to protests from the political left, five were disinvited due to protests from the political right, and four were unclassified. In the same time period, 39 more speakers were threatened with disinvitations due to protesters, but the speech ultimately took place.[1]
Seven speakers have been disinvited so far in 2017, 24 were disinvited in 2016, and six received that treatment in 2015.
This disinvitation of speakers because of their political views is a challenge to freedom of speech, but it is far from the only challenge. An earlier Number of the Day showed that 148 colleges have formal policies that substantially restrict freedom of speech. Hundreds of others have more limited restrictions. According to FIRE, only 8% of the schools reviewed had policies supporting free speech.
Charles Murray, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) are among those who have been disinvited this year.
FIRE maintains a Disinvitation Database that covers more than 300 incidents from 2000 to the present.
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- September 5, 2017 – 22,949 students will graduate from coding boot camps this year
- September 4, 2017 – 662 million vacation days unused by American workers in 2016
- September 1, 2017 – 8 members of Congress running for governor
- August 31, 2017 – $1.8 billion seized by Department of Justice through civil forfeiture in 2015
- August 30, 2017 – 10 burning issues in digital media
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
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Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
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