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Founded in 1999 as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, for over 20 years ����ֱ�� has worked to advance the cause of free speech and the values of the First Amendment on our nation’s college and university campuses. We have done so through our commitments to sincere nonpartisanship, courageous advocacy, and an enduring belief in free speech as a force for good. In 2022, ����ֱ�� changed its name to the ����ֱ�� to reflect its broader effort to protect and promote these values off campus, as well. 

We’re delighted to provide background on ����ֱ�� below, but if you have any questions, please reach out to media@thefire.org. Reporters interested in receiving FIRE's press releases should .

Karl de Vries
Director of Media Relations
karl.de.vries@thefire.org

Katie Kortepeter
Communications Campaign Manager 
katie.kortepeter@thefire.org

Alex Griswold
Communications Campaign Manager 
alex.griswold@thefire.org

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Remarks attributable to ����ֱ�� President & CEO Greg Lukianoff

“We need to remind older Americans that freedom of speech is still a value worth fighting for, and we need to teach younger Americans that everything from scientific progress, to artistic expression, to social justice, peace, and living authentic lives requires the staunch protection of freedom of speech for all.” — Remarks on FIRE's expansion into national free speech advocacy on June 6, 2022.

"I’ve dedicated my life to defending freedom of speech because it is an essential human right. However, free speech is more than that; it’s nothing less than essential to our ability to understand the world. A giant step for human progress was the realization that, despite what our senses tell us, knowledge is hard to attain. It’s a never-ending, arduous, necessarily de-centralized process of testing and retesting, of chipping away at falsity to edge a bit closer to truth. It’s not just about the proverbial “marketplace of ideas”; it’s about allowing information — independent of idea or argument — to flow freely so that we can hope to know the world as it really is. This means seeing value in expression even when it appears to be wrongheaded or useless." — Testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 6, 2024.