Robert Maranto

and 2 more

Campus Speech Codes Are Not (mainly) White Savior Behavior* Robert Maranto University of Arkansas, Department of Education Reform, rmaranto@uark.eduMartha Bradley-DorseyUniversity of Arkansas, Department of Education Reform, mlbradle@uark.edu Nathanial BorkUniversity of Arkansas, Department of Education Reform, NBork@uark.eduABSTRACT. Most higher education speech codes seem intended to protect racially, sexually, or religiously marginalized students. Compared to more privileged peers, are those students more likely to prefer speech limitations? We use survey data (n= 58,807 undergraduates from 257 campuses) collected by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (2024) in spring 2024 to test whether marginalized groups are less tolerant of potentially offensive speech and more supportive of disrupting speech, relative to privileged (White, Christian, or heteronormative) students. In the fully specified OLS model, ideology has far more impact than demographic variables on tolerance of liberal and conservative speech. Further, religion and sexuality have more consistent direct association with support for limitations on conservative speech than does race or ethnicity. Analyses fail to support hypotheses that students from elite colleges are more supportive of disrupting speech they dislike. We conclude with limitations, and suggestions for future research.Keywords: Higher education, free speech, free inquiry, censorship, White Saviorism, Critical Theory*This research was made possible in part by Grant 2203 from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression ($33,593 awarded). That organization played no role in writing this paper.