FIRE launches new free speech ad campaign featuring Collin College professors

DALLAS, Oct. 10, 2022 – Today, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression announced a new free speech television ad campaign featuring former Collin College professor Michael Phillips and retired Collin College professor Kim Parker Nyman. The campaign will reach viewers on MSNBC and CNN in the Dallas media market. 

In the ad, Nyman discusses how Phillips’s contract was not renewed after he suggested students wear masks during a course covering the history of pandemics and preventative measures. Even though Nyman is a conservative and Phillips is a liberal, she staunchly defends his right to free speech: “He’s far more liberal than I am,” says Nyman in the ad. “I’m a conservative, but I will defend to the death his right to speak.”

Phillips is suing Collin College for violating his First Amendment rights. He is represented by FIRE in his lawsuit.

The ad is part of FIRE’s ongoing “Faces of Free Speech” campaign promoting free speech through the personal stories of those who faced censorship and stood up for freedom of expression. 

Watch the ad:

“Free speech doesn’t have a partisan preference,” said FIRE Executive Vice President Nico Perrino. “Defending your own right to speak freely means you must also defend that same right for those with whom you disagree.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the most essential qualities of liberty. FIRE recognizes that colleges and universities play a vital role in preserving free thought within a free society. To this end, we place a special emphasis on defending the individual rights of students and faculty members on our nation’s campuses, including freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience.

CONTACT:

Katie Kortepeter, Communications Campaign Manager, FIRE: 215-717-3473; [email protected]

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