Skip to content

Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023

Did a recent survey find that a majority of Wisconsin college students agree instructors should be reported if they say something perceived to harm to certain groups?


yes

According to a University of Wisconsin System survey of student views on freedom of speech, a majority of respondents agreed to varying degrees that students should report instructors who say something they feel causes harm to certain groups. 

In response to how much they believed students should report instructors in that scenario, 25.4% said "somewhat," 25.7% said "quite a bit" and 16.9% said "a great deal" for a total of 68%. 

Responses to the question were spilt along self-identified political affiliation. Of students who identified as Democrats, 61.2% said "quite a bit" or "a great deal" in response to how much they thought instructors should be reported, in contrast to about 21.7% of students who identified as Republicans. 

The survey polled over 10,000 undergraduate students across UW System schools about free speech on campus, finding students' opinions varied greatly across different political affiliations, genders and races. 

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.

Learn More

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.