via FOXNEWS:
College campuses have long been hotbeds of censorious conduct, according to a major free speech advocacy group, but the turmoil of 2023 may mark a turning point.
“The situation for free speech on college campuses has been dire for a long time,” Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression President Greg Lukianoff told Fox News. “I’m hopeful that this will be an opportunity for the kind of serious discussions and change that need to happen, because this situation is not sustainable.”
Lukianoff and FIRE, a free speech advocacy group, often call the current campus climate “the new Red Scare,” alluding to two previous eras of rampant censorship. But he argues that McCarthyism, during which an estimated 100 professors lost their jobs for alleged Communist beliefs, was actually less severe than modern cancel culture.
About 200 professors have been fired since 2014 for offensive speech or other expressions, according to FIRE’s count.