²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø

Dear Friends and Supporters:

During my tenure as president of ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø, we have expanded our staff, reached out to more students, professors, and supporters than ever, and brought ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s impact on individual rights in higher education to an unprecedented level of national prominence. My tenure, but not these revolutionary and positive changes, will end on December 31.

I have recently decided to leave both ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø and Philadelphia to return to law practice in my wife’s home state of Tennessee. I will continue to serve as an active member of ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s Legal Network, as I have since its inception, and I have also taken steps to enlist in the United States Army Reserve as a Judge Advocate General officer. I intend to join the Army Reserve for the same reason I joined ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s Legal Network and then its full-time staff: to defend the freedoms for which millions have fought, bled, and died.

My views on foreign policy are of course my own, not ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s. But this is a personal message from me, and so I feel I should explain what may seem a puzzling decision. In short, I have come to believe that during a struggle that I see as vitally important, I have a duty to serve my country as members of my family have since the Revolution. Since that belief has spurred me to begin the process of enlisting, it would be impractical for me to continue as ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s president.

FIRE’s outstanding work will continue without interruption and without any drop-off in intensity or effectiveness because of ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s impressive full-time staff of 12. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø continues to grow. We are defending more students and professors and intervening at more universities than ever before. We are receiving a record number of case submissions—60 complaints in October alone—and our educational outreach efforts are expanding at a geometric rate. There have been 100,000 downloads of ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s Guides, we have 200,000 monthly visits to ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s website (a 300 percent increase from a year ago), and so far this year, news stories about ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s work have reached hundreds of millions of readers, listeners, and viewers. But these numbers do not capture the sense of hope that ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø has brought to campuses across the country. Simply put, there is an answer to the repression and ideological intolerance of the modern university. With ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s resources and expertise, a student or professor can fight—and win—against the most prestigious and powerful educational institutions. Liberty can prevail.

I will stay at ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø for the remainder of the year while ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø initiates a national search for my successor—for a person who can lead ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø to the next level of cultural influence. I am profoundly grateful to ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s cofounders Alan Charles Kors and Harvey Silverglate, to the members of ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s Board of Directors, and to the members of ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s Board of Advisors for the opportunity to lead ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø. I am touched by how ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø’s friends and supporters embraced me from the very first moments of my presidency and thank all of you.

There would not be a ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø without you. Your continued support will sustain the cause of liberty on campus.

Warm regards,

David French, President
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵAPP¹ÙÍø)