Stanford University Receives 'Hostile Campus' Designation for Second Year Running
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has once again designated Stanford University as a "hostile campus" in its comprehensive 2025 Hostile Campus Ratings Report. This marks the second consecutive year that the prestigious institution has received this concerning label, highlighting ongoing tensions regarding campus climate for Muslim students.
Report Methodology and Scoring System
The report, which was released on February 11th and shared with The Stanford Daily under embargo, conducted a thorough evaluation of 51 universities nationwide. The assessment focused on multiple critical areas including administrative policies, leadership decisions, disciplinary actions, and public statements related to protecting students affected by Islamophobia. Stanford University received an overall score of just 37 percent in this comprehensive evaluation.
According to the detailed rating system established by CAIR, campuses were classified into three distinct categories: "unhostile" for institutions scoring 90 percent or above, "under watch" for those between 70 and 89 percent, and "hostile" for campuses scoring below 70 percent. Notably, none of the 51 institutions evaluated managed to reach the unhostile category, with the average score across all universities being 37.667 percent.
How CAIR Determined the Ratings
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which was established in 1994 to advance Muslim American civil rights, explained that points were deducted when institutions failed to develop adequate policies addressing Islamophobia, inadequately responded to student reports of harassment, or maintained weak free speech protections that disproportionately affected Muslim students. The findings incorporated data from the organization's comprehensive 2024 Campus Climate survey on Muslim student experiences, along with documented incidents dating back to 2023 in which Muslim students reported experiencing Islamophobia or racism on campus.
Furthermore, the report specifically criticized Stanford's response to campus protests in 2024, including arrests, the pressing of charges, and the suspension of students who barricaded themselves inside the university president's office during demonstrations.
Free Speech and Protest Policies Under Intense Scrutiny
University spokesperson Angie Davis responded to the designation by telling The Stanford Daily that "Free speech at Stanford University is central to our mission of education and research and is legally protected under California law." She emphasized that the university maintains viewpoint-neutral time, place, and manner rules intended to prevent disruption of university operations, which she stated were consistent with United States Supreme Court interpretations of the First Amendment.
Stanford's current policies allow community use of several campus spaces with varying requirements:
- White Plaza may be used without advance permission
- Meyer Green, Manzanita Field, and Panama Street Clearing require advance registration
- University policy largely prohibits overnight camping and disruptions to classes or other institutional business
Jeffrey Wang, legal representative for CAIR's San Francisco Bay Area office, expressed concerns at a 2025 press conference that Stanford's free speech guidelines could further limit discourse around Palestine and student activism, according to The Stanford Daily.
Student Perspectives on the Campus Climate
Iman Deriche, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine who worked for CAIR last summer, told The Stanford Daily she was not surprised by the repeated designation. She cited what she described as frequent administrative scrutiny of student organizing activities, including communications regarding logos and event coordination that created barriers for student groups.
In a February 2025 statement, CAIR asserted that Stanford's actions had created a chilling effect on campus activism and fostered an environment of fear for students advocating against Israel's actions in Gaza. Deriche also noted that her student group faced significant pushback when coordinating events, including a vigil held on October 7th to center lives lost in Palestine.
A Broader National Campus Climate Debate
The renewed hostile campus designation places Stanford University within a wider national debate over campus speech, protest regulation, and the treatment of Muslim and pro-Palestinian students across American higher education institutions. For CAIR, the rating reflects institutional responsibility for campus climate and the protection of vulnerable student populations. For Stanford and similar institutions, the issue centers on the complex challenge of balancing free expression with operational continuity and legal obligations.
As universities nationwide continue to navigate heightened activism related to Israel and Palestine, ratings such as CAIR's Hostile Campus Report are likely to remain part of the public record and institutional assessment landscape. Whether these designations lead to substantive policy adjustments or further dispute will depend significantly on how institutions and advocacy groups interpret the increasingly contested boundaries between safety, protest, and protected speech in academic environments.
