Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)

Founded in 1999 as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, FIRE’s primary focus was initially protecting free speech on college and university campuses. FIRE changed its name in 2022 to reflect its efforts to expand these protections beyond campuses. ¹

Activities

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression aims to defend the fundamental rights of college students and faculty members while creating favorable resolutions for individuals facing campus disciplinary actions and those negatively impacted by a culture of censorship within higher education. ² FIRE advances its mission through policy advocacy and litigation. ³

FIRE’s Campus Rights Advocacy project (formerly the Individual Rights Defense Program) provides assistance to students, professors, and campus groups who have experienced civil liberties violations. In 2022, FIRE successfully intervened in cases involving a Georgetown University student who was suspended for posting tweets that some found offensive, a Linfield University professor who was investigated for personal social media posts, and an Eckerd College student group that was denied recognition due to “problems” with its leader’s social media posts. ³

In the first half of 2022, FIRE’s Policy Reform Project affected twelve policy changes on campuses across the country. These reforms include improving harassment policies at Barnard College, abolishing a harassment policy at the University of North Carolina–Asheville, and revisions to the IT acceptable use policy at the University of Illinois–Chicago. ³

In 2022, FIRE’s Litigation Project challenged unconstitutional policies at Collin College, claiming a former professor was fired for criticizing the college in the press. The project also obtained several favorable settlements in 2022, including in for an unlawful termination for protected expression, a student group denied recognition based on viewpoint, and a professor who was fired for making controversial remarks. ³

Funding

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and businesses. While FIRE does not disclose its donors, tax filings confirm donations from the John Templeton Foundation ($2.5 million in 2016), ⁴ the J. P. Humphreys Foundation ($1.15 million in 2019), ⁵ and the Charles Koch Foundation ($1 million in 2019). ⁶

People

Staff

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s key staff include Greg Lukianoff, president and CEO; Robert Shibley, executive director; and Will Creeley, legal director. ⁷

Board of Directors

Samuel Abrams is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former research fellow at the Hoover Institution. ⁸

Kmele Foster is a partner at Freethink ⁹ and the former chair of the America’s Future Foundation. ¹⁰

Alan Charles Kors is a cofounder and chairman emeritus of FIRE. ¹¹

Marlene Mieske sits on the board of advisers at the New York Civil Rights Coalition. ⁹

Virginia Postrel is the former vice president of the Reason Foundation and the former editor of Reason magazine. ⁹

Keith Whittington is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University and the chair of the Academic Committee of the Academic Freedom Alliance. Whittington is a former fellow at the Hoover Institution, John M. Olin Foundation, and National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. Whittington formerly sat on the Presidential Commission on the U.S. Supreme Court. ¹²

Harvey Silverglate is a co-founder of FIRE and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. Silverglate is a former president of the board of the ACLU of Massachusetts. ⁹

Other members of the board include John Ellis, board chair; Anthony Dick; Joseph Maline; and John McWhorter, a professor of linguistics at Columbia University. ⁹