Cornell’s overall free speech climate has remained at an F grade by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression since 2021, and its 2025 College Free Speech ratings have seen further decline.
The University earned a speech climate score of 51.66 out of 100 points based on criteria including student surveys, campus policies and recent speech-related controversies. “Speech climate” refers to how much a school’s cultural environment promotes free speech among its community members. Out of the 257 schools surveyed, 166 received an F grade, or an overall score below 60. Only 11 schools boast a grade of C or higher.
Cornell’s score falls below the national average this year, which stands at 58.63.
Cornell Media Relations did not reply to a request for comment regarding FIRE’s rankings.
FIRE has been evaluating college and university speech environments to further its goals of protecting students impacted by censorship and a “marketplace of ideas” since 2020. This year, the organization surveyed over 68,000 students, 304 of whom were Cornell students.
FIRE highlighted three major speech-related controversies that contributed to Cornell’s lower score this year.
First, a student was investigated and suspended due to expressing that “Zionists must die” on social media in January 2024.
Next, pro-Palestinian students disrupted the University’s “Pathways for Peace” event discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, leading to the arrest or detainment of at least 17 individuals in March 2025. At the time, President Kotlikoff condemned the protest and suspended the organization that had advertised the disruption, Students for Justice in Palestine at Cornell.
Finally, Cornell rescinded R&B artist Kehlani’s invitation to headline Slope Day due to what Kotlikoff labeled as “antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments” regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict. U.S. Senator Rick Scott, along with Representatives Lisa McClain and Mike Lawler, called for Kehlani to be uninvited, putting pressure on the Cornell administration, according to FIRE.
Cornell’s downward score trend is consistent with universities across the nation, according to FIRE. The organization reported “sobering” findings, including students increasingly self-censoring themselves, possessing lower tolerances for both liberal and conservative controversial political speakers and higher tolerance of violence to silence campus speech.
"The percentage of students saying it is acceptable to shout down a speaker, block entry to a campus speech, or use violence to stop a campus speech all increased since last year and are at record highs," says FIRE’s most recent executive summary.
Surveyed Cornellians displayed only a minor increase in their support for violence — to which the majority of students remained opposed — in response to a question that asked if it was acceptable to use violence to stop a campus speech.
Two percent of Cornell student responders selected “always acceptable,” seven percent selected “sometimes acceptable,” 27 percent selected “rarely acceptable,” and 64 percent selected “never acceptable.”
These results mark a 7 percent increase in the number of students who believed violence was acceptable to any degree compared to the 2024 data — an increase that entirely fell within the “rarely acceptable” response.
FIRE also pointed to the Israel-Palestine conflict and pressures from the Trump administration on universities’ free speech policies as key drivers for the increase in volatile campus environments this year. These topics, along with abortion, were the top three issues all surveyed students found difficult to discuss on campus.
Despite the University’s speech ratings, Cornell earned positive Due Process ratings, which assess Cornell policies that govern a student’s right to due process of law. At Cornell, due process is applied to implementing fair and equitable procedures for students enduring situations such as Student Code of Conduct violations and Title VI and Title IX complaints.
FIRE scrutinized procedural aspects of Cornell’s policies, outlining a student’s rights to a presumption of innocence, a meaningful hearing process and a right to appeal. Each due process category received significantly higher letter grades than an F.
Several student activists, however, have expressed frustration with due process in Office of Student Code of Conduct and Community Standards investigations — referencing the temporary suspensions from campus privileges and services many protestors face as their case awaits resolution.
One activist, Ph.D. student Sriram Parasurnama, was suspended and barred from campus for nearly a year as OSCCS investigated his role in the 2024 Statler Hall Career Fair disruption.
FIRE rates universities on a scale of “Red” to “Green Light” spotlight rating based on the extent to which a university’s regulation restricts free speech. Cornell currently possesses a “Yellow Light” rating, or moderate restrictions, but FIRE’s website implies that it can rise to a “Green Light” rating by adopting Institutional Neutrality and the Chicago Statement for Free Speech.
Additionally, FIRE highlights that the University has worked with them in attempting to revise the Expressive Activity Policy to remove “broad and vague” restrictions on speech, as written in their report. Continuing to do so can boost Cornell’s ratings to a “Green Light” and demonstrate that the University will have had fewer restrictions on free speech.
Ross Marchand, a program counsel at FIRE, praised revisions that allowed students to maintain anonymity when posting expressive materials around campus and no longer required scheduling expressive activity events through the University’s 25Live system, where students can reserve spaces for various events taking place on campus.
“Cornell deserves praise for demonstrating its willingness to engage critics, make changes, and to honor the principle of free expression as enshrined in our Constitution,” Marchand said.
