House Passes Bill Targeting Accreditation and Campus Free Speech

The House of Representatives passed legislation targeting alleged “woke” activities on college campuses in a move that appears to be motivated by a perception that colleges and universities are too liberal.  The End Woke Higher Education Act (H.R. 3724) passed last week but is unlikely to advance in the Senate.

The legislation packages two bills together, namely, the Accreditation for College Excellence Act and the Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act. NAICU has remained neutral on the accreditation provisions, which not only require accreditors to respect religious mission, but also prohibit them from requiring or encouraging institutions to adopt “specific partisan, political, or ideological viewpoints.”  

Under the bill’s free speech provisions, the ability of public colleges and universities to set constitutionally permissible time, place, and manner restrictions on campus speech would be sharply curtailed, thus limiting these institutions’ ability to minimize disruptions and risks to student safety. Other provisions in the bill would apply to all institutions, including private nonprofits, such as a requirement that institutions disclose their free speech policies in order to be eligible for Title IV assistance.

Although private colleges and universities would be exempted from the bill’s most onerous free speech provisions, NAICU joined the higher education community in a letter opposing the bill and its potential impact on campus speech and student safety.