Fox News host hypes ‘free speech' college as place where ‘protests are essentially not allowed'

Independent

28-02-2025

Fawning over a new 'free speech' college on Friday morning, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade simultaneously described the University of Austin as an institution that won't 'tell you what to think' and a place where 'protests are essentially not allowed.'
Kilmeade brought up the University of Austin, which was first announced in 2021 by The Free Press' Bari Weiss and started classes last fall, while his show discussed the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests at Barnard College. Demonstrations have unfolded this week at the independent women's school after the college expelled two Barnard students who allegedly disrupted a Columbia University class on Israeli history.
After the Fox & Friends crew spent several minutes raging against the protesters and blasting the New York governor for 'capitulating to the goons' and 'legitimizing' the demonstrators, Kilmeade introduced a short video package he had prepared on the University of Austin, which is still unaccredited.
'This is one of the reasons why the University of Austin was launched last year,' Kilmeade declared. 'And it was put together by Bari Weiss – people like Niall Ferguson, conservatives, libertarians, Joe Lonsdale. A lot of big-time supporters! They want to revamp upper-education and higher education, and they want to make it tuition-free.'
Kilmeade noted that the first endowed professor at the college is anti-woke author Michael Shellenberger, adding that he recently spoke to Shellenberger for an interview that will be aired on Sunday night. In a preview clip that Kilmeade shared, Shellenberger — who was one of Elon Musk's handpicked 'Twitter Files' disseminators — characterized the school as a 'sanctuary of truth-seeking and truth-telling.'
Claiming that the majority of American universities have become 'the exact opposite of that' and merely havens of 'censorship' and 'cancel culture,' Shellenberger told the Fox News host that he was interested in creating a college that would be a 'place of free thought.'
After airing the clip, Kilmeade offered up some more details about the school's principles and teaching methods before curiously lauding it for apparently banning an activity that runs contrary to the First Amendment.
'That's what they want. They teach the classics. They don't tell you what to think. They present it all. Protests are essentially not allowed,' he proudly asserted.
The University of Austin, described by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression as 'a new university devoted to free speech,' states on its website that it stands for 'the fearless pursuit of truth' and 'freedom of inquiry.' In a recent article claiming that UATX was 'founded on free speech,' the school's chief of staff, Mike Shires, insisted that the college was created to show how 'discourse and civil discourse can happen in a university environment.'
Meanwhile, the First Amendment explicitly states that Congress shall make no law 'abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.'
The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Kilmeade's description of the school's policies was accurate and, if so, how they align with the college's commitment to free speech absolutism.