In December 2020, the U.S. Department of Education announced the creation of a new “Free Speech Hotline” that college students and professors could use to file complaints if their First Amendment rights were violated on campus.
One year later, the department is still withholding records detailing the nature of the complaints filed with the hotline.
On March 31, 2021, The College Fix filed a freedom of information act request with the department to see what types of complaints had been reported. Aside from being granted a waiver of the typical freedom of information act fees, The Fix has not heard back from the department regarding the request.
In April, a spokesperson for the department did confirm the hotline was still active.
“Under the previous administration, the Department established an email inbox to receive complaints regarding campus speech,” a spokesperson told The College Fixat the time. “At present, the Department’s new leadership is assessing this inbox and it remains online.”
But The College Fix heard nothing back from the March FOIA request, nor from a September 27 email sent asking for an update as to the status of the March request.