Amanda Nordstrom
Amanda is FIRE’s Strategic Campaigns Counsel in the Campus Rights Advocacy department, where she helps college students and faculty stand up to censorship and fight for their free speech rights on campus with courage and creativity.
Before joining FIRE, Amanda spent more than 11 years with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) Laboratory Investigations Department, where she investigated and exposed animal abuse at universities and animal testing facilities and advocated for better legal protections for animals.
She grew up in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in women’s studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with honors from Rutgers University School of Law. Amanda earned her stripes as an advocate at several LGBTQ+ and animal rights non-profit organizations and served as a judicial law clerk in the New Jersey Superior Court.
Amanda is driven by her commitment to helping people stand up for what they believe in — on campus and beyond. She takes pride in helping individuals navigate complex challenges with clarity, principle, and courage.
Amanda adores her bulldog and cats, and in her free time, she can often be found immersed in a craft project, on a thrift-store road trip, or at a local rock show. She’s an exhibited embroidery artist and teacher, and one of her pieces was even featured at Philadelphia’s nearby National Liberty Museum.
Recent Writings
- Two Universities. Two Posters. One First Amendment Problem.,
- Navigating the Kafkaesque nightmare of Columbia's Office of Institutional Equity,
- University of Maryland tried to suspend the First Amendment on October 7. The Constitution doesn’t allow that.,
- When shouting silences speaking: Disinvitations, shoutdowns, and civil disobedience,
- Medical College of Wisconsin backs out of hosting symposium citing concerns about controversial speakers,
- Protestors chased down Riley Gaines after her campus speech. SFSU says it’s ‘proud’ of the event’s handling.,
- OUTRAGEOUS: SFSU students shout down Riley Gaines and accost her after event,
- NYU grad student employee fired, investigated for writing on garbage,
- Black Hills State University Director of Public Safety censored, cursed at student group recruiting on public sidewalk,
- ‘Your words are violence!’ Cornell students shout down Ann Coulter in latest heckler’s veto to roil campuses this semester,
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