UW System Releases Results of Student Survey on Free Speech and Free Expression

Thursday, February 2nd, 2023 -- 2:00 PM

(Bob Hague, WRN) -UW System President Jay Rothman says threats of cuts to state funding should not dissuade the system from allowing viewpoints some may consider unpopular.

“We can't be afraid of the truth and what the survey shows us. We want to make sure we get ourselves better. It is important that our universities continue to be marketplaces of ideas where divergent opinions can be shared and debated and discussed. And I think that at the end of the day is a bipartisan issue.”

Rothman says students were surveyed about why they participate in class discussions.

“The students felt they knew enough about the topic, that they cared about the topic and that they were in a class that encouraged discussion. We asked a similar question of those students who didn't express views in class. Some worried that other students would disagree with their views, or that the instructor would find their views offensive, or that they would get a lower grade.”

More than 10,000 students participated in the survey.

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