Free Speech Tensions: Responding to Bias on College and University Campuses

Despite the increasing development of bias response teams on college and university campuses, little scholarship has examined these teams and, in particular, team leaders’ approaches to understanding the role of free speech in responding to bias. Through semi-structured interviews, administrators who served on bias response teams at 19 predominantly White institutions described the need to balance free speech with other interests, recognize the nuance of First Amendment protections, and respond with educational conversations.