2025 Wrapped

Our 2025 In Review

Dear Fellow Davidsonian,




Happy New Year to all, and many thanks to those of you who have supported us this past year! We especially appreciate your financial support of DFTD and greatly need it if we are to continue our work.


For DFTD to be successful in ensuring Freedom of Thought & Discourse, we need to ensure students can learn from each other while comfortably exchanging ideas. Students need to be educated on how to think, not what to think. We have watched and quantified how the progressive and now illegal DEI policies disable Davidson’s long-standing values of honor, integrity, and academic rigor.


Regrettably, freedom of speech and expression of ideas is not a given at Davidson or on most college campuses. It will take loyal alumni to protect these values, which is why we were a founding member of AFSA (Alumni Free Speech Association), a group that has grown to include more than 30 coalitions of alumni advocating for freedom of expression at their respective alma maters.


These alumni groups include those from UNC, Stanford, Harvard, Cornell, MIT, Princeton, Williams, Dartmouth, UVA, Berkeley, Yale, Furman, Chicago, and many more. On our sister campuses, we’ve seen the toppling of 5 college Presidents, robust DOJ investigations, new civic institutions embedded in many, and incredibly strong alumni support. What is happening nationally through AFSA underscores the power of alumni engagement.


WE’VE HAD SOME MAJOR 2025 ACCOMPLISHMENTS:



  • DFTD helped to establish a group of students form a free speech group, and gave students the confidence to launch other new student organizations. One such group won the Young Americans for Freedom 2025 national Rookie Chapter of the Year award. A new Turning Point USA chapter at Davidson was also created in 2025. Students are feeling the freedom to be bold because of us!


  • DFTD successfully influenced the Administration to reform the hiring practices of all faculty and instructional staff. This included much-needed revised language in all Davidson College job postings so they would no longer have mandatory DEI statements and requirements that would be a deterrent for many potential applicants. We brought back true balance and meritocracy to the employment process.


  • DFTD, joined by FIRE, successfully advocated for the free speech rights of both an individual and a student organization facing harsh sanctions related to an alleged anonymous report of a harassment policy violation. While the student was never publicly exonerated, the issue was resolved without penalty to the individual or group. We privately advised the administration to take a different path in announcing the resolution, but when they did not, Davidson’s treatment of this issue received negative national publicity-even Elon Musk tweeted about it! 


  • We awarded the Robert Murray Scholarship for Excellence in Free Expression, granting three students $5,000 scholarships for the 2025–26 academic year in recognition of their commitment to open inquiry and free expression. Applications open annually in the spring.


  • We hired 2 student interns to work with DFTD staff to support event efforts and research. One of last year’s interns joined the Heritage Foundation directly after graduation, inspired by her work with us.


  • DFTD hosted, and 4 members of DFTD and 2 current students were featured speakers at the 2025 AFSA National Summit held in Charlotte, NC. 


  • DFTD expanded campus programming during the 2025 academic year by partnering with three student organizations to sponsor five guest speakers and two public debates, broadening the range of viewpoints represented in campus dialogue. (Past event recordings can be found at dftdunite.org/events) Some of our generous supporters sponsored a particular speaker, a wonderful way to target your donations if you choose! 


  • Many of you participated in a survey of DFTD supporters to help guide the path for DFTD initiatives. We will act on many of your suggestions.


  • We developed and distributed educational resources on free expression, academic freedom, and civil discourse tailored specifically to Davidson College policies and student life. This gives students a better understanding of their rights as students, the importance of free speech, and how to navigate if an issue does arise.


  • DFTD Board members joined other AFSA and civic groups at a US Congress in a roundtable discussion of free speech issues on college campuses throughout the United States. The roundtable was hosted by Davidson Alumnus Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. ‘85. [Watch the replay]


  • In 2025, we expanded our audience across all platforms by more than 35%, with a total of over 1,350 alumni, students, faculty, and staff hearing from DFTD. Our message is spreading! Help us reach more alumni by forwarding this email to fellow wildcats.


OUTSIDE & INSIDE ENTITIES SEE THE LACK OF FREE SPEECH AT DAVIDSON:


Despite all DFTD has tried to do since its founding in 2019 to address free speech issues, in 2025, Davidson was given yet another poor free speech rating by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Davidson has repeatedly been given consecutive D ratings for its institutional failure in promoting and protecting free speech on campus. Even worse, in 2025, the prestigious Manhattan Institute gave Davidson a failing grade of 51/100 in its ability to protect student free speech based on its own independent research and survey. 


Interestingly, and at great expense, the College conducted its own survey in 2025 of faculty and students on these free speech issues, but has yet to publicly release the results. Why not? Despite having criticized the methodology of the independent surveys cited, we suspect the College’s own surveys have revealed similar systemic issues, and the Administration does not want to acknowledge that those on its campus feel the restrictive pressure.


OUR WORK CONTINUES:


In 2026, we hope to continue to build on these successes and will continue to apprise you of our efforts in our Newsletters and through emails like this one. We have ambitious goals for 2026 including:


  • Encouraging President Hicks to agree to Institutional Neutrality, something 41 other colleges/universities have already implemented.


  • Advocating for the removal the anonymous bias reporting system, currently stifling free speech at Davidson and on approximately 1300 other campuses across the US.


  • Increasing the ideological balance of Professors and Administrators at the college by partnering with the Heterodox Academy, a nationwide group of professors who have signed up to support free speech.


  • Continuing to bring inspirational speakers and debates to campus. Some of you supported key speakers last year, a wonderful way to target your donation.


  • Shining the light on the skyrocketing costs & expenses caused by the growth of a bloated administration and DEI that has now brought the yearly tuition up a whopping $92,500 per year.


  • Finally, working to uncover why 75% of 2024 graduates achieved cum laude or above and pushing to ensure that all classes are of the highest academic standards, preparing students for professional success.


There is still much work to be done. Join us!


Board of Directors

Davidsonians for Freedom of Thought and Discourse

Where Liberty and Learning Endure

June 29, 2026
As America commemorates 250 years of independence, we reflect on the enduring principles of liberty and learning that have defined Davidson College for nearly two centuries.

Bankruptcy and Higher Education

June 21, 2026
By Todd Zywicki The Wall Street Journal June 21, 2026 Auburn University is known for its agricultural and STEM programs, its flight school and athletic programs. But the land-grant university recently became notable for another reason: The board of trustees is taking control of the school back from its faculty. The board began seizing the university’s academic programs—including curriculum, course offerings, degree requirements and academic credentials—at its June 5 meeting. The board also dissolved the faculty senate and replaced it with an advisory council to the president, which includes two faculty members from each of the university’s colleges and additional members appointed by the president. The board’s assertion of authority mirrors incoming mandates by the Alabama Legislature restricting the role of faculty senates in the state’s public university system. Predictably, Auburn’s faculty has responded with howls of outrage, decrying these intrusions on the faculty’s authority over academic operations. How could outsiders appointed through a political process have the expertise to make such delicate decisions? I’ve been a professor at a state university for almost 30 years, and I am sympathetic up to a point. But before becoming a professor I was a bankruptcy lawyer. And bankruptcy law teaches an important lesson for how academia can respond to this moment. Bankruptcy gives businesses an opportunity to admit mistakes, reform and emerge stronger. Successful enterprises don’t need bankruptcy lawyers. But when an enterprise loses its way, it goes into receivership. Most universities aren’t financially bankrupt but have lost their mission and direction. Society has long recognized certain institutions’ authority to manage their own affairs. Two notable examples are licensed professionals—such as doctors and lawyers—and universities. Universities, even state universities, have run their enterprises with minimal external oversight. Faculties enjoyed substantial rights of self-governance because they committed to higher standards than those required by ordinary jobs. Professors would establish and maintain standards of scholarly integrity, freedom of speech and inquiry, and rigorous dedication to merit-based assessment of research in specialized areas. They policed their own house, enforcing norms of truth-seeking, maintaining scholarly integrity and rigor, and ensuring that students emerged with basic knowledge, employable skills and civic competency. But over the past several decades, commitment to those values collapsed. Surveys by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression consistently reveal fear among students and faculty around expressing unfashionable ideas. Universities have seen shout-downs, cancellations and even violence against speakers. Merit and quality yielded to “diversity” and “equity.” Truth-seeking has been displaced by faddish theories and ideologically charged teaching and research. Professors design esoteric departments and teach niche classes to cliques of activist students while the needs of other students and taxpayers for real education go unaddressed. Like companies I represented, universities have lost their way. And many have proved either unable or unwilling to self-correct. When that happens, it is appropriate to put institutions into receivership until they reform and rededicate themselves to their mission. At Auburn incoming students must now take certain required civics and history courses to master basic competency in U.S. history and government. To ensure the classes actually meet that objective, professors will have to make their syllabi publicly available. In the classroom, instructors will be expected to stick to the matter at hand and avoid free-ranging political punditry. Just as other companies can learn from the ones that go bankrupt, other institutions of higher education can learn something from Auburn: Fix what’s broken, or someone else might fix it for you. Mr. Zywicki is a professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. He was a Dartmouth College trustee, 2005-09. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/bankruptcy-and-higher-education-4c2b178e

Race Preferences Are Falling Nationwide

June 19, 2026
By the Editorial Board The Wall Street Journal June 19, 2026 The Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against racial preferences is turning out to be a landmark with profound consequences as its influence spreads. On Thursday the famously progressive Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a state program that issued scholarships based on race violates the U.S. Constitution. Justice Annette Ziegler wrote for the court that the Constitution requires “that every person ‘must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual—not on the basis of race,’” and that the state cannot “use race as a factor in affording educational opportunities among its citizens.” That must have been painful for the activist liberal majority on the court. In a concurrence, Wisconsin Chief Justice Jill Karofsky took some shots at Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College (2023) before acknowledging that “I am bound by the precedent set forth in SFFA” and other Supreme Court rulings “when interpreting the Fourteenth Amendment.” The case was brought by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty against a 1985 Badger State law that reserved need-based scholarships through a grant program for “Black American,” “American Indian,” “Hispanic” and some Southeast Asian undergraduate students enrolled in Wisconsin’s private and technical colleges. Last week the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a scholarship program earmarked for black University of Iowa students studying physical sciences was “impracticable” under SFFA. State governments would be wise to repeal these discriminatory grant programs, or the courts will do it for them.
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