Bowdoin College: Institution Persecutes Bowdoin Socialists Leader for Protected Speech

On May 7, 2026, Bowdoin College charged Finley Rhys, a student on leave, with four policy violations, including multiple allegations that he failed to comply with the “reasonable request of a college official.” These allegations stemmed from his defiance of administrative orders that amounted to prior restraints and would have violated his speech rights under the college’s expressive guarantees. FIRE wrote to the college on May 15, the day of Rhys’s hearing, explaining how the charges — both individually and as a whole — violate the free speech principles the college claims to espouse. FIRE demanded that the college end its investigation, drop the charges against Rhys, and approve his re-enrollment request.