The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has convinced Dartmouth administrators to eliminate the college's speech code. In a press release issued by FIRE, FIRE president David French observes that "Dartmouth's speech policies, along with those of the University of Pennsylvania, now lead the Ivy League in respecting individual liberty and free expression. ... FIRE looks forward to the day when the entire Ivy League joins this trend and recognizes that administrators may advocate for decency without mandating that students censor, under threat of punishment, their own speech for fear of transgressing someone else's notion of the good society."

UPDATE: There's more at InsideHigherEd.com.

As a member of the Dartmouth Class of 72, with a son about to enter the Dartmouth Class of 2009, I find this welcome and cheering news. Also somewhat stunning.

I can't help but think that the current Trustee election among alumni, with two petition candidates running on a largely free speech platform, played a significant role in this development. I say this without knowing the results of the election (the voting ended on May 6 but the result has not been announced). I will be intensely curious to see how well the petition candidates did. Even if they didn't win, a strong showing among the alumni would have sent a message to the Dartmouth Board of Trustees. I suspect that's exactly what happened. I know it was the first time I voted in a trustee election.

Viva the free expression of thoughts and ideas. This is some great news. Perhaps there is hope yet...

This is good news. Thought crime regulations have no place on campus.

Robinson and Zywicki, the petition candidates running on a free speech platform, won.

http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2005051201000

This is only a beginning. An institution like Dartmouth has tremendous inertia to overcome, which takes time. Still, I am feeling better and better about sending my son to Dartmouth.