Speech First’s initial victory came after it filed suit two years ago against the University of Michigan, which then had such vague rules on speech on campus that hurt feelings were enough to drag an unsuspecting student before the creepily named Bias Response Team.
Michigan settled and now the BRT has been eliminated from at least one American campus. “This victory paves the way for college students who may have been too fearful or intimidated to express their opinions to finally embrace their free speech rights and engage in true academic discourse,” Neily told The College Fix.
In its two years, Speech First has won impressive accolades—George Will hailed it as a “splendid new organization,” and the Department of Justice filed a supportive statement of intent in the Michigan University case.
Neily grew upon Chicago’s North Shore. But not everything in the family’s history is quite so idyllic: her paternal grandparents met at the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California, where Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese were interned during World War II.
Nicki is a force of nature and an old and dear friend of IWF’s. We know you will savor her uniquely American family saga and appreciate the contributions she is making the freedom of speech on campuses.
