Nearly one in three Harvard undergraduates say violence can be justified to stop speech on campus in some cases. That sobering finding from FIRE's 2026 College Free Speech Rankings gained urgency after Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed last Wednesday while debating students at Utah Valley University under a tent marked "Change My Mind."
Across campuses, many responses were unifying. At Yale, Georgetown, and elsewhere, College Democrats and Republicans issued joint statements condemning the killing and political violence. But alongside that grief came indifference and mockery: at Stanford, some students circulated memes calling the murder "hilarious," with one likening Kirk's death to being "nerfed by John Wick."
Data on Harvard's own students show how such attitudes can take root. Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) found that among polled Harvard undergraduates, significant shares of students said these actions are acceptable in at least some instances:
Shouting down a campus speaker (79%).
Blocking others from attending a campus event (58%).
Using violence to stop a campus speech (32%).
Whatever one thinks of FIRE's rankings, using violence to stop speech should be completely rejected. These figures echo warnings from NYU social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and FIRE president Greg Lukianoff about a growing belief that speech is violence, and that violence can therefore be justified in return.
Properly understood, free speech is the opposite. It enables disagreement to be explored with debate and persuasion instead of fists and bullets. When students believe otherwise, universities risk cultivating fragility and fueling escalation rather than resilience and discovery.
That's why glimpses into Harvard's response offer hope. College Dean David Deming urged students to feel "free not just to speak your mind, but to be physically safe," highlighting Kirk's openness to debate as a model for civil discourse. At a Law School student vigil, Professor Stephen Sachs reminded those gathered that universities depend on "the courage to pursue the truth, person by person." Economics professor Jason Furman, a former Obama advisor, said he came to better understand students' grief.
These gestures don't undo a campus culture where suppression and even violence are normalized responses to speech. But they point to a better path: more speech, more forums, and more willingness to engage across difference.
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Q: Now that Judge Burroughs has ruled in the Harvard and AAUP funding lawsuits, are those cases officially over at the district level?
1636’s Take: FIRE’s results are likely more pessimistic than if the survey had captured the full student body, but they are not out of step with other Harvard-administered undergraduate-only surveys.
Looking at last year, FIRE’s findings (~30-40% comfort expressing controversial views in and out of the classroom) tracked closely with the undergraduate slice of Harvard’s own Antisemitism & Islamophobia Task Force survey. By contrast, broader all-student (undergraduates + graduate) surveys from the same year (Pulse and Open Inquiry and Constructive Dialogue) showed higher comfort levels (~55-70%). That gap likely reflects a mix of question wording, sample size, and undergrad-only vs. all-student populations — effects we can’t fully disentangle. Regardless, FIRE’s numbers do not appear to be total outliers.
As with other opt-in surveys, FIRE’s results still likely overrepresent those with the strongest views in either direction. As we wrote in our analysis of the Antisemitism & Islamophobia Task Force reports, these surveys are best read as snapshots: they capture real and serious student experiences but may amplify the voices of the most engaged.
Events
Virtual — September 16 from 3:20-4:10 p.m. ET: Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker and Dartmouth president Sian Beilock will speak at Chronicle Festival's roundtable "The Value of Viewpoint Diversity." Register here.
Virtual — September 18 from 8-9 a.m. ET: Financial Times subscribers can join FT journalists and guests, including the president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities and former Sequoia chairman Michael Moritz, for "American Universities Under Pressure," a webinar on how political scrutiny and funding cuts are affecting US higher education and its global competitiveness. Register here.
Virtual — September 18 from 8-9 p.m. ET: Join 1636 Forum, FIRE's Chief Research Advisor Sean Stevens & Campus Advocacy Chief of Staff Connor Murnane, and HAFFS for an exclusive look into Harvard's results in FIRE's 2026 College Free Speech Rankings on Thursday, September 18, from 8-9 p.m. ET. Register here.
Cambridge, MA — September 25: MIT Free Speech Alliance's third annual conference features keynote speaker Jonathan Rauch, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and contributing editor to The Atlantic. Register for free here.
Dallas, TX — September 25 from 7-9 p.m. CT: Provost John Manning will join a conversation moderated by Harvard Overseer Juan Antonio Sepúlveda Jr. (AB '85) and hosted by the Harvard Club of Dallas and Harvard Alumni Association. Register here.
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FYIs
Harvard Notified of Grant Reinstatements; Settlement Remains Uncertain
Following Judge Allison Burroughs's ruling last week that the government's termination of Harvard's grants was unlawful, federal agencies have begun notifying Harvard researchers that grants across federal agencies terminated in May are being reinstated.
However, no funds have yet been disbursed.
Researchers hit hardest by the cuts, particularly those conducting research on Harvard's medical campus, told The Boston Globe that given uncertainty over if funding will be restored and without a settlement, their research is "dead," with halted studies, staff layoffs, and postdocs already seeking jobs elsewhere.
Lutnick also said that taxpayers should share in profits from federally funded research, suggesting universities return part of patent revenues to the public.
Harvard Countersues Former HBS Professor Francesca Gino
Harvard filed a defamation suit in July against former Harvard Business School (HBS) professor Francesca Gino, arguing that her public statements, including claims that Harvard ignored exonerating evidence and mishandled its investigation, caused the University reputational and financial harm.
As part of its counterclaim, Harvard alleges that after it had already found her guilty of misconduct, Gino pointed in fall 2023 to a file she called the "July 16 OG file" as proof she had been sent falsified data by a research assistant. Harvard argues the file was actually a dataset altered in September 2023 but backdated to appear as if last modified in 2010.
Gino, a behavioral scientist once known for her work on honesty, was first accused in 2021 of manipulating data in four studies. After an internal investigation, HBS placed her on leave in May 2023. That August, she sued Harvard for defamation, gender discrimination, and mishandling of her tenure case.
In September 2024, a federal judge dismissed Gino's defamation and invasion of privacy claims, but allowed her contract-based claims (i.e., that Harvard violated its own disciplinary and tenure policies) to proceed.
In May 2025, HBS revoked her tenure (a University first) and terminated her employment.
In recent months, HLS professor Lawrence Lessig has launched a podcast series, The Gino Case, in which he argues she "did not commit academic fraud, and has been unjustly removed through a process that none could call fair."
HKS Middle East Dialogues To Host Alan Dershowitz
Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) professor Tarek Masoud will host Harvard Law School (HLS) professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz on September 16 to open the 2025 academic year of the HKS Middle East Dialogues series.
Masoud, who has previously hosted speakers including Jared Kushner (AB '03) and Palestinian professor Dalal Saeb Iriqat, will also bring Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and former U.S. Iran envoy Robert Malley this fall.
Masoud said it was "not difficult to decide" to invite Dershowitz, adding: "If you cannot engage with a member of your community that happens to have very strong views on this issue, then that speaks poorly to our ability to engage with anybody."
Harvard's Antisemitism and Islamophobia Task Forces both praised the Middle East Dialogues. The Antisemitism report said the series offered "meaningful and significant conversations about the Middle East," while the Islamophobia report cited it as an example of "promoting constructive dialogue on campus about interfaith and/or intercultural issues."
Masoud has previously written in The Wall Street Journal that while students have shown enthusiasm for engaging difficult conversations, administrators have been more hesitant. He cites his Middle East Dialogues as an example where criticism surrounding his invitation to Iriqat prompted HKS to "[rush] out a statement distancing itself from me and my enterprise."
Harvard Budget Cuts Reach Church Programs, LatAm Outposts, and Libraries
As the University continues to weather federal government-driven financial pressures, schools and centers find new ways to cut back. Recent austerity measures include:
Cutting Memorial Church programming. Beginning this fall, Memorial Church will scale back student programs, public events, and volunteer projects, while daily worship services will continue. "Dinners might be not quite as fancy as they've been in the past," said Pusey Minister Matthew Ichihashi Potts, "[b]ut we're still going to gather."
Closing and downsizing Latin American offices. Harvard's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) will close its Chile office at year's end after a major donor gift that sustained it for two decades ran out. The center, which faced a million-dollar deficit last year, will also end its Mexico City back-office lease, shifting staff to remote work while continuing student programming in person.
Freezing library renovations. Plans to renovate Widener, Lamont, Pusey, and Houghton libraries ahead of Harvard's 400th anniversary have been paused under the University's capital spending freeze. The halt also delays hopes for renovating the Harvard-Yenching Library, where staff have warned that outdated facilities and poor environmental controls put collections at risk of mold growth.
Harvard Consolidates Undergrad Student Recruitment Groups
Harvard announced it will merge five undergraduate recruitment groups into a single unified recruitment program, effective immediately. The affected groups are the Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program, Financial Aid Initiative, First Generation Program, Undergraduate Admissions Council, and College Connection.
School officials said that these student groups, while important in mentoring and outreach, are not involved in admissions decisions.
This move follows other organizational changes. Over the summer, Harvard closed its individual centers for minority, women's, and LGBTQ students, folding their staff into the new Harvard Foundation within the Office of Culture and Community.
MIT Reports Hate Symbols and Messages on Campus; Kornbluth Condemns Incidents
MIT confirmed several incidents on campus last week: two swastikas, a sign wishing violence on a conservative nonprofit, and graffiti and email messages "celebrating violence."
In a community message, MIT president Sally Kornbluth wrote that "manifestations of hatred" have "no place at MIT," and "[b]elonging to the MIT community is a privilege, not a right."
The incidents do not appear to be connected and the intent of those who drew or wrote them are unknown. MIT police are investigating, and Kornbluth said anyone identified will "face the appropriate discipline process."
More News
More News at Harvard:
South China Morning Post: "Why did Harvard top mathematician Liu Jun leave the US for China?"
HSPH: "Expanding lifelong learning opportunities at Harvard Chan School" — feat. Rifat Atun, HSPH professor and vice dean for non-degree education and innovation
GBH News: "Harvard professor sees academic scandal as a wake-up call"
The Crimson: "Beyond the Lab: Trump's Funding Cuts Hit Humanities Research at Harvard"
The Crimson: "Survey Finds Harvard Students Experience Lower Rates of Mental Illness Than Peers at Other Schools"
The Crimson: "Student Affinity Groups Turn to Alumni for Funding Amid DEI Office Closures"
Harvard Gazette: "'New oxygen': Visitor program will bring prominent mathematicians to Harvard"
The Crimson: "Shabbat 1000 Draws More Than 1,000 Harvard Affiliates for Celebration"
The Crimson: "Harvard Rejects Grad Union Request to Charge Fees of All Represented Workers"
The Crimson: "Harvard Was Cleared To Get Some Federal Funds. Then DOGE Stepped In."
The Crimson: "Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard Rebrands as Sunrise Movement Chapter, Years After University Divestment"
Larry Summers: "The Dialogue Project: Universities in the Crosshairs" — 92nd Street Y conversation featuring Harvard President Emeritus Larry Summers (PhD '82) and Columbia President Emeritus Lee Bollinger
The New Yorker: "Harvard's Mixed Victory" — op-ed by HLS Professor Jeannie Suk Gersen (JD '02)
The Editors: "Justice Department Pushes Against Harvard Settlement" — by Ira Stoll (AB '94)
The Crimson: "To Avoid Federal Micromanagement, Harvard Must Earn Trust" — op-ed by neurologist and member of the Council on Academic Freedom, Michael Segal (AB '76)
The Harbus: "Should We Punish Each Other for Our Political Beliefs?" — by Shira Amit (MBA '26)
The Crimson: "Harvard Should Require Pre-Orientation" — op-ed by L.A. Karnes (AB '28)
The Crimson: "DEI May Have Failed at Harvard. So Will the Rebrand." — editorial by The Crimson Editorial Board
The Crimson: "Dissent: Much Ado About Nothing" — dissenting opinion by Crimson Associate Editorial Editor Henry Moss IV (AB '26)
The Crimson: "Harvard Must Confront Trump's Demands for What They Are, Not How They're Made" — op-ed by Benjamin Isaac (AB '27)
The Crimson: "Our Professors Say We Don't Care Enough about Our Classes. What Did You Expect?" — op-ed by Mac Mertens (AB '26)
More News Beyond Harvard:
Yale Daily News: "First years trained to consider opposing views in new online scenarios"
Yale Daily News: "Yale's new civics center aims for open dialogue in small groups"
Yale Daily News: "Professor boycotts Canvas for supposed military connection"
The Chicago Maroon: "University of Chicago Announces $100 Million Budget Cuts Amid Federal Policy Changes"
The Daily Princetonian: "Amid budget cuts, University slashes hours across most library branches"
Brown Daily Herald: "An interview with President Paxson: Community encouraged to focus on Brown's future after deal with Trump admin"
Cornell Daily Sun: "Death Threats Targeting Jewish, LGBTQ+ Cornell Students Emailed to The Sun by Kotlikoff Impersonator"
Bloomberg: "MIT Sees 'Significant New Financial Pressures' From Trump Cuts"
The Daily Signal: "Education Department Reassigns Responsibility to Partner Agency"
Intelligencer: "U.S. Colleges Are About to See a Big Decline in Applicants"
CNN: "Universities targeted by Trump have more than doubled their spending on lobbying in the last year"
The Free Press: "The Revolt of the Rich Kids"
Jerusalem Post: "Despite CUAD's activity in Columbia, students want to go back to being students" — by Noa Fay (Columbia '25)
Symbolic Capital(ism): "Censorship is Primarily a Problem of Culture" — by Stony Brook professor Musa Al-Gharbi
Wall Street Journal: "University Trustees Have Their Heads in the Sand" — op-ed by former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse (AB '94)