Gov. Tony Evers said he would veto a Republican-led bill on free speech and academic freedom on Wisconsin college campuses if it came to his desk in an interview with The Daily Cardinal Wednesday.
Evers said he was cautious about “taking away freedoms” because he doesn’t “see a problem on campuses around the issue of free speech.”
Republican lawmakers at the state and federal law have for years criticized free speech and ideological diversity on college campuses.
The bill, reintroduced in October, would require the University of Wisconsin System and technical colleges to provide annual instruction on the First Amendment and conduct a survey on academic freedom and political bias every two years for students and faculty.
The legislation also includes punishments for institutions who violate free speech laws, including two-year tuition freezes and requiring a disclaimer on admissions documents stating the free speech violation.
Republican lawmakers have pointed to a survey of 423 students from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expressing indicating 35% of UW-Madison students would, in rare circumstances, find violence acceptable to stop a campus speaker.
Although the bill was introduced before Charlie Kirk’s murder on Sept. 10, Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, said it was “more important than ever” to address free speech concerns on college campuses.
“When society begins to accept the very false premise that dissenting speech is equivalent to violence, we create a culture where violence replaces discourse,” Nedweski, a co-sponsor of the bill, told the Cardinal in October.
Although Evers said he “possibly” has concerns about political dialogue on college campuses with the recent rise in political violence, he believes that students can deal with diverse ideas and differing opinions without additional legislation.
“That's what makes America strong is having that diversity of opinions, whether it's from the conservative middle of the road or liberal, it doesn't make any difference,” Evers said.
Nedweski said the UW System continues to oppose the bill, but said she wants to work with UW System President Jay Rothman because she believes they share the goal of upholding free speech.
Crystal Potts and Mitch Goettl, directors of State Relations at UW-Madison, wrote a letter in October to the Senate Committee on Universities & Technical Colleges, highlighting UW-Madison programs already promoting free speech and open political discussion, such as BridgeMadison and Deliberation Dinners. They also pointed to Board of Regents discrimination policies the university is already required to follow.
“As currently drafted, Senate Bill 498 potentially undermines [UW-Madison’s] strong system built to safeguard free speech,” Potts and Goettl wrote.
University officials have similarly addressed free speech concerns on campus through the launch of the Wisconsin Exchange, a university-wide proposal to promote open dialogue, UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin announced in October.
Nedweski also expressed concern for conservative voices on college campuses, calling conservative professors “outliers” among their colleagues.
The senate narrowly passed the bill by one vote in November, with just one Republican voting against it, and it was read to the assembly for the first time last week.
Clara Strecker is the state news editor for The Daily Cardinal. She previously served as copy chief. Clara has written in-depth on the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race, the 2024 presidential election and abortion rights. She will spend the summer interning with WisPolitics. Follow her on X at @clara_strecker.
