Statement from The Jefferson Council:
The truth is finally catching up with the myth. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s (FIRE) just published its 2026 College Free Speech Rankings, reflecting FIRE’s new focus on the actual reality on the 257 college campuses surveyed rather than stated policy. While the Ryan administration often talked the talk on free expression issues, they rarely walked the walk. The past administration often pointed to UVA’s high position in FIRE’s rankings as support for its policies, but now that the real world is being taken into consideration, UVA’s ranking has tumbled from 1st to 21st place.
The new report even more clearly highlights the disparity at UVA between formal written policy and how the students actually perceive the reality. Thus, the report significantly summarizes UVA’s student experience as follows:
“Student perceptions are poor with UVA failing to rank in the top 100 for any area. UVA ranks in the bottom 50 for both “Comfort Expressing Ideas” and “Administrative Support,” signaling relative unease and skepticism toward leadership despite strong written policies.”
Other very important findings of the new FIRE report show that UVA has decreased in five of the six main criteria analyzed–including receiving an “F” grade in three of the six: “Self-Censorship”, “Administrative Support”, and “Political Tolerance.”
