• Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania released statements in the past week claiming to be pro-free speech, but experts say they often don’t support free speech for conservatives. 
• Harvard University President Claudine Gay and UPenn President Elizabeth Magill both said their respective universities support “free expression” in statements claiming their universities stand behind the free speech of their students. 
• “It’s been incredibly telling what so many universities are and are not willing to take a strong moral stance. These elite schools were very, very willing to speak up in support of BLM and to speak up in support of Ukraine, but you look at how they treated the absolute horror that’s being inflicted upon Israel right now, and so many schools were reluctant to take that strong moral stance,” Angela Morabito, a visiting fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum and the spokesperson for the Defense of Freedom Institute, told the DCNF.

Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) released statements defending students’ pro-Hamas speech after campus protests, but in the past have muzzled conservatives for speech and online statements.

Harvard University President Claudine Gay and UPenn President Elizabeth Magill both said their respective universities support “free expression” in statements made after pro-Palestinian rallies at the colleges following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel. In the past, however, conservative speakers and professors at the universities have frequently been shouted down, and some have been canceled for online statements. (RELATED: ‘Violence Will Necessarily Continue’: Graduate Assistants Union Releases Statement Condemning Israel)

“It’s been incredibly telling what so many universities are and are not willing to take a strong moral stance. These elite schools were very, very willing to speak up in support of BLM and to speak up in support of Ukraine, but you look at how they treated the absolute horror that’s being inflicted upon Israel right now, and so many schools were reluctant to take that strong moral stance,” Angela Morabito, a visiting fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum and the spokesperson for the Defense of Freedom Institute, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Over 30 student organizations at Harvard signed a letter blaming Israel for the Hamas terrorist attacks that began on Oct. 7. Gay released a statement Oct. 10 saying that student groups don’t speak for Harvard but that they have a “right to speak,” according to a press release.

But Harvard rescinded an offer to Kyle Kashuv in 2019 because of alleged racist comments made when he was 16, according to the Harvard Crimson.

Harvard also disinvited feminist philosopher Devin Buckley due to her views on trans issues in 2022, according to the National Review. Buckley had previously expressed the view that a man cannot become a woman.

“Our university embraces a commitment to free expression. That commitment extends even to views that many of us find objectionable, even outrageous. We do not punish or sanction people for expressing such views,” Gay said in the Oct. 13 statement.

UPenn canceled a speech by Riley Gaines, a women’s rights speaker and former NCAA swimmer who swam with Lia Thomas, according to Campus Reform. Gaines spoke impromptu at the university, and right before she spoke, two students were arrested after disturbing the content of Gaines’ table, according to the College Fix.

UPenn initiated disciplinary action against Professor Amy Wax in 2022 over statements the university said were “antithetical to the University’s mission,” according to Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).

Wax stated that “non-Western” groups have “resentment, shame, and envy” against Western people for their “outsized achievements and contributions” on Tucker Carlson’s show in 2022.  She also stated that American would be “better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration.”

“This week’s campus demonstrations come at a time when many members of our community are fearful and experiencing tremendous pain. Peaceful protest – and all that comes with it – is a feature of campus life. As a university, we support free expression, along with a commitment to the safety and security of our community and the values we share and work to advance,” Magill said in a Oct. 18 statement.

Hundreds of students walked out of UPenn on Oct. 16 in support of Palestinians, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Penn Against the Occupation participated in the walkout and advocated for Hamas terrorists as their “martyrs,” according to an Instagram post.

“Many schools, particularly elite institutions, are very eager to call any kind of speech hate speech. When a conservative speaker shows up on campus, they are more than willing to call that hateful even when it is not hateful at all,” Morabito told the DCNF.

Harvard and UPenn had six and nine attempted deplatformings in 2022, respectively, which included calls to sanction students and campaigns to get colleges to disinvite speakers from speaking on campus, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).

Harvard ranked dead last in an analysis of free speech on campuses by FIRE, and UPenn ranked right above them at second to last.

“It’s encouraging to see these university presidents saying they are for free speech, but it’s going to be important for them to actually follow through,” Graham Piro, program officer from campus rights advocacy at FIRE, told the DCNF.

Harvard and UPenn did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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