Leftists sometimes say that freedom of speech on college campuses is in good shape; the idea that it’s threatened is just a right-wing myth. FIRE’s recent survey of faculty members provides solid evidence that it’s not a myth. Many professors report that they have to watch what they say.

In today’s Martin Center article, Professor Joseph Knippenberg reports on that survey and offers his views.

He writes:

First is the relatively precarious position of conservatives, who comprise roughly 16.5 percent of the respondents. Almost 40 percent of all respondents said that a conservative would be a very or somewhat poor fit for their department. By contrast, 71 percent said a liberal would be a very or somewhat positive fit. More than half of conservatives worried that their reputations would be damaged because someone misunderstood what they said or did, while almost a third feared losing their jobs for that reason. It’s thus not surprising that 55 percent of conservatives at least occasionally hid their political beliefs from their colleagues, as did 35 percent of moderates (and 17 percent of liberals).

That “poor fit” phrase means, “We won’t tolerate your unwoke beliefs.”

FIRE’s study also finds that large percentages of faculty think that school administrators are doing a bad job of protecting academic freedom.

Read the whole thing.