Ezra Nugiel, for the Free Press Published 9:08 a.m. ET Jan. 31, 2020

Middlebury College has landed on a list of Americas 10 worst colleges for free speech, assembled by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a nonprofitfocusedon protecting free speech rights on college campuses in the United States.

FIRE includesthe following in Middlebury's list of "speech-chilling" infractions:

"They denied a willing audience the opportunity to hear Legutkos arguments and critics from challenging him, either through peaceful protest or pointed questions," FIRE wrote about Middlebury in their list.

"The unilateral cancelation of Legutkos speech was one of the most troubling infringements on student and faculty free speech and open inquiry rights we saw last year."

Find the Free Press' coverage on Legutko's visithere.

See the Free Press' coveragehere.

"The college quickly backed down and has sinceupdateditsdemonstrations policy, to its credit," writes FIRE.

Coverage from the Middlebury Campus, Middlebury's student-run newspaper, can be foundhere.

"Until we see clear evidence that these infringements wont happen again, Middlebury finds itself on this most inauspicious of lists," FIRE writes.

Middlebury Collegehas an opportunity to redeem themselves from this article's claims, asCharles Murray is scheduled to return to the campus this March.

Since 2011, FIRE hasnamed65 individual colleges and universities as Americas worst for free speech. Their 2020"Worst Colleges for Free Speech" list marks theirninth year compiling theirworst-of-the-worst list.

Middlebury found itself onthe list alongside:

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is a nonprofit educational foundation founded in 1999 in Philadelphia. FIRE was foundedby University of Pennsylvania professor Alan Charles Kors and attorneyHarvey Silverglate.

FIRE says the organization strives to educatethe public aboutthreats to free speech rights andmeans to preserve them on U.S. college campuses.

FIREs website states its mission is "to defend and sustain the individual rights of students and faculty members at Americas colleges and universities. These rights include freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality,religious liberty, and sanctity of consciencethe essential qualities of liberty."

Follow Ezra on Twitter: @EzraNugiel

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Why Middlebury was deemed one of the worst colleges for free speech according to FIRE - Burlington Free Press