- The elite university in Massachusetts has been dubbed the single worst academic institution for free speech in the US out of 248 schools
- The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said the school earned 0.00 points on a 100-point scale- but that its true score was even lower
- According to the institution, the treatment of speakers, professors and students with controversial opinions at the school has been particularly bad
"The school's score tanked for a number of reasons, not the least of which being the nine professors and researchers at Harvard who faced calls to be punished or fired in the last few years based on things they'd said or written.
"Seven of the nine were ultimately disciplined.
"The director of polling and analytics at FIRE, Sean Stevens, told the New York Post that Harvard has consistently ranked among the bottom tier of schools on the list, but was surprised a school was able to 'fall below zero.'
" 'They've had so many scholar sanctions,' he said.
"A school's score is calculated based on factors like how strong the its policies in favor of free speech are and how many professors, students, and visitors to campus have been targeted by school authorities for their publicly held positions.
"At Harvard, in the last five years, some of the seven free speech incidents have included the school's decision to revoke conservative activist Kyle Kashuv's acceptance because of racist comments he made on social media as a 16-year-old, for which he apologized.
"Since 2019, Harvard has sanctioned four scholars, three of whom the institution has gone on to fire." . . .