Trump Signs Executive ‘Free Speech’ Order For U.S. Colleges
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order linking “free speech” efforts at public universities to federal grants in an effort to combat what he considers a clamp down on conservative students’ abilities to share their views.
Under the order, the schools will themselves certify whether they are protecting students’ free speech rights, which are already guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
The order requires that schools ensure they allow students to express themselves in order to receive funds from 12 federal agencies that help fund universities and colleges.
Trump administration officials have suggested that the rights of speakers on college campuses have been trampled by student protesters, and that conservatives have been unfairly targeted.
