Today, Missouri became the latest state where bills to restrict the free exchange of ideas on college campuses failed for the year, joining the other 11 states where this legislation has failed or shows no chance of passing before the end of the legislative session. Like bills defeated in Montana and Virginia this year, Missouri’s bill, HB 213, was promoted by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) and would have forced universities to restrict what faculty are able to teach and students are able to learn, as well as requiring annual reporting to the legislature.
Across the country, students, faculty and others have worked
hard to oppose these bills, including students from Lincoln
University in Missouri
who passed a
resolution
opposing HB 213 and students at the University of Missouri
campuses who passed an
Intercampus
Student Council resolution opposing the bill. As in other states, these students were
joined by faculty leaders with the
Missouri
National Education Association and Missouri Conference of the
American
Association of University Professors, who also spoke out against the
attempt to restrict what can be taught in college classrooms.
For a full account of states where the “Academic Bill of
Restrictions”, so-called “Intellectual Diversity” bill or similar legislative
efforts were introduced in 2007, visit our coalition’s legislation
tracker at www.freeexchangeoncampus.org.