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Ohio colleges aren't exactly making the honor roll when it comes to free speech, per a civil liberties nonprofit's new report. 

State of play: Ohio's 13 ranked colleges and universities earned a D- average for their campus speech climates in the latest national rankings from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), matching the national average.

How it works: FIRE and College Pulse surveyed nearly 63,000 students and incorporated campus speech policies and recent controversies.

Half of students said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "was difficult to discuss openly," followed by President Trump (46%), Charlie Kirk (44%) and abortion (43%).

Zoom in: Northeast Ohio schools landed in the bottom half of the 261-school ranking.

Case Western Reserve ranked No. 121 with a D-, up from No. 163 last year.

Kent State ranked No. 189 and Oberlin College No. 194. Both received F grades.

Zoom out: Wright State was Ohio's highest-ranked school at No. 64, followed by Kenyon College (76), Miami University (77) and Bowling Green State University (80).

Ohio State fell 50 spots to No. 174 and received an F, while the University of Dayton ranked last in Ohio at No. 237.

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

Ohio colleges get poor marks for free speech in new rankings

Northeast Ohio schools landed in the bottom half of the 261-school ranking.

Red brick university building with a central clock tower and flag, framed by autumn orange trees. A walkway with lampposts and a few people on campus in front.

The Ohio State University might have an A in football, but it earned an F in free speech from a nonprofit's rankings. Photo: Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images

Ohio colleges aren&#x27;t exactly making the honor roll when it comes to free speech, per a civil liberties nonprofit&#x27;s new report. State of play: Ohio&#x27;s 13 ranked colleges and universities earned a D- average for their <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="campus speech climates" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2026/09/10/free-speech-collge-student-censorship" data-vars-content-id="5aa0a83c-624f-4de2-91b1-27001f9a2771" data-vars-headline="Ohio colleges get poor marks for free speech in new rankings" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2026/09/10/free-speech-collge-student-censorship" target="_self">campus speech climates</a> in the latest national rankings from the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression" data-vars-click-url="https://www.fire.org/news/2027-college-free-speech-rankings-kirk-murder-adds-another-difficult-topic-dismal-climate" data-vars-content-id="5aa0a83c-624f-4de2-91b1-27001f9a2771" data-vars-headline="Ohio colleges get poor marks for free speech in new rankings" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.fire.org/news/2027-college-free-speech-rankings-kirk-murder-adds-another-difficult-topic-dismal-climate" target="_blank">Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression</a> (FIRE), matching the national average.

Education

News

Northeast Ohio will pause Friday to commemorate 25 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with several tributes.

Downtown Cleveland: Public Square's Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument will host a remembrance ceremony at 8:30am.

The event includes wreath placements and the reading of biographies of Northeast Ohioans killed in the attacks inside the monument's memorial room.

Another memorial service will take place outside the memorial at noon and will be streamed on YouTube.

Terminal Tower: Downtown's landmark skyscraper will light up in solid blue Friday evening as a tribute to 9/11 victims and first responders.

Progressive Field: The Guardians' sixth annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb begins at 8:30am.

Participants will climb 2,200 steps, roughly equivalent to the World Trade Center's 110 stories.

VA Medical Center: Veterans, staff and community members will gather at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center on East Boulevard at 8:45am.

The Patriot Day ceremony includes a wreath-laying and presentation of colors.

Hudson: A remembrance ceremony begins at 8am at Hudson High School Memorial Stadium, followed by a stair climb equivalent to 110 stories.

Aurora: Sunny Lake Park hosts a 6pm ceremony at the park's Memorial Tree Garden.

Elsewhere, communities including Lakewood, Cleveland Heights, Strongsville and more will also hold 9/11 remembrance events.

How Cleveland is marking 25 years since 9/11

The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument will host a remembrance ceremony at 8:30am.

Silhouetted statue group with a raised weapon in a city square, a tall beige clock tower rises behind, and a decorative street lamp on the right under a cloudy sky.

Cleveland's Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument at Public Square. Photo: Michael Macor/Getty Images


Northeast Ohio will pause Friday to commemorate 25 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with several tributes.Downtown Cleveland: Public Square&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Soldiers&#x27; and Sailors&#x27; Monument" data-vars-click-url="https://www.soldiersandsailors.com/" data-vars-content-id="6a4fbf1a-ea5b-4996-b642-f93d07390996" data-vars-headline="How Cleveland is marking 25 years since 9/11" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.soldiersandsailors.com/" target="_blank">Soldiers&#x27; and Sailors&#x27; Monument</a> will host a remembrance ceremony at 8:30am.

Things to Do

The Browns have tried just about everything to build a winner — now it's your turn.

State of play: Cleveland heads to Jacksonville for Sunday's season opener with a new head coach, new-look roster and a quarterback controversy.

How it works: Make four picks, keep track and find your season below.

A. Watson revival: Deshaun Watson rebounds and keeps the job.

B. Shedeur time: Watson struggles and Shedeur Sanders gets his shot.

C. QB chaos: Multiple quarterbacks start. We've seen this movie.

A. Jared Verse: The centerpiece of the Myles Garrett trade becomes Cleveland's next defensive star.

B. Shedeur for sure: Deion's son becomes the biggest story in town.

C. A surprise: Someone off the radar emerges as a building block.

A. The offense: A new system can't cure everything.

B. The defense: That Garrett-sized hole proves difficult to fill.

C. Everything: It's looking like 2017 again.

B. 7-9 wins: Welcome to the NFL's mushy middle.

🏆 Mostly A's: The miracle season. Watson rebounds, Verse delivers and head coach Todd Monken has Cleveland as a playoff contender.

🌅 Mostly B's: Mediocre but intriguing. Sanders gets his chance and shows enough to make Cleveland believe it might finally have its quarterback.

🔥 Mostly C's: Peak Browns. The offense sputters, the defense misses Garrett and mock drafts become required reading before Thanksgiving.

The bottom line: We'll check back in January to see whether you — or the actual Browns — created the stranger season.

Build your own Browns season

How will the Browns' 2026 season play out?

Collage of Cleveland Browns players: left in black jersey with orange helmet (number 4), center in white jersey and orange helmet rushing, right in white jersey (number 12) smiling.

(L-R) Browns players Deshaun Watson, Jared Verse and Shedeur Sanders. Photos: Jason Miller; Nick Cammett; Ian Maule via Getty Images

The Browns have tried <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="just about everything" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/08/24/cleveland-browns-deshaun-watson-starter-quarterback" data-vars-content-id="866332ed-245c-467e-9ec5-365db0171e2a" data-vars-headline="Build your own Browns season" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/08/24/cleveland-browns-deshaun-watson-starter-quarterback" target="_self">just about everything</a> to build a winner — now it&#x27;s your turn.State of play: Cleveland heads to Jacksonville for Sunday&#x27;s season opener with a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="new head coach" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/01/28/browns-hire-todd-monken-head-coach" data-vars-content-id="866332ed-245c-467e-9ec5-365db0171e2a" data-vars-headline="Build your own Browns season" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/01/28/browns-hire-todd-monken-head-coach" target="_self">new head coach</a>, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="new-look roster" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/06/01/myles-garrett-trade-browns-los-angeles-rams" data-vars-content-id="866332ed-245c-467e-9ec5-365db0171e2a" data-vars-headline="Build your own Browns season" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/06/01/myles-garrett-trade-browns-los-angeles-rams" target="_self">new-look roster</a> and a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="quarterback controversy" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/08/05/browns-quarterback-decision-sanders-watson" data-vars-content-id="866332ed-245c-467e-9ec5-365db0171e2a" data-vars-headline="Build your own Browns season" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/08/05/browns-quarterback-decision-sanders-watson" target="_self">quarterback controversy</a>.

Sports

Nov. 14 is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you.

Why it matters: Three months out from the Nov. 14 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions, Oasis is shaping up as the ceremony's surprising de facto headliner.

State of play: The British band's tour documentary, "Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger," rocked the Venice Film Festival last weekend, continuing an improbable two-year reunion run.

Flashback: Few could have seen this coming when Oasis received its first of three consecutive Rock Hall nominations in 2024.

After all, the band's captivating peak lasted just a few years in the 1990s.

The intrigue: Oasis was hardly the biggest name on a 2026 ballot featuring pop superstars Mariah Carey, P!NK and Shakira.

Devoted fan bases for New Edition and Iron Maiden also seemed poised to steal the spotlight.

Yes, but: Most of those artists didn't get in, while Iron Maiden has said it won't attend the ceremony.

Phil Collins will certainly be a favorite, but he retired from performing in 2022.

Two men in black outfits raise their clasped hands in a victory gesture on a stage, with large white panels behind them; one wears sunglasses.

Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher on the red carpet at the 2026 Venice Film Festival. Photo: Marilla Sicilia/Getty Images


That leaves Oasis, riding a hit documentary and hugely successful reunion tour, positioned to take over Los Angeles' Peacock Theater on Nov. 14.

There are even unconfirmed rumors the band's early lineup, which hasn't played together in full since 1995, could reunite for the ceremony.

What they're saying: The induction could launch another big year for Oasis, something Noel Gallagher recently hinted at on U.K. radio station Talksport.

"There's no football tournament on next year, so we've got to do something in the summer, right?" Gallagher said when asked about a 2027 tour.

What's next: Tickets for the ceremony haven't gone on sale yet, but are expected any day.

The bottom line: Nearly three decades after Oasis declared, "Tonight, I'm a rock 'n' roll star," the Rock Hall is finally making it official.

How Oasis emerges as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's unlikely headliner

The 1990s Britpop band is riding a hit documentary and hugely successful reunion tour.

Black-and-white close-up of two people in jackets, faces blurred, standing on a brick road with a fence and industrial buildings visible in the background under a gray sky.

Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher of Oasis circa 1993. Photo: James Fry/Getty Images

Nov. 14 is gonna be the day that they&#x27;re gonna throw it back to you.Why it matters: Three months out from the Nov. 14 <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame inductions" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/04/14/2026-rock-hall-inductees-iron-maiden-wu-tang" data-vars-content-id="cf9ad1c7-abf0-4759-b1fb-d3813d0fbd90" data-vars-headline="How Oasis emerges as the Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame&#x27;s unlikely headliner" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/04/14/2026-rock-hall-inductees-iron-maiden-wu-tang" target="_self">Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame inductions</a>, Oasis is shaping up as the ceremony&#x27;s surprising de facto headliner.

Music

Culture

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's new Northeast Ohio mansion comes with something even their massive fortune can't easily buy elsewhere — a whole lot of house.

Why it matters: The couple's $5.35 million Bratenahl estate shows how much further luxury home dollars stretch in Cleveland than in some of America's priciest cities.

By the numbers: "Tayvis" paid about $253 per square foot for the roughly 21,000-square-foot mansion, which sits on 3.5 acres overlooking Lake Erie.

The property includes eight bedrooms, a guest cottage, pool, sauna, wine cellar, home theater and five-car garage.

Here's what roughly $5 million will get elsewhere:

🗽 New York: A $5 million Gramercy penthouse in Manhattan has three bedrooms and 2,233 square feet — about one-tenth the size of the Bratenahl mansion.

Swift owns several properties in New York and each is much smaller (yet way pricier) than the Northeast Ohio estate.

☀️ Los Angeles: A single-family home near the Sunset Strip, with three bedrooms, a pool and guest house, will run you around $5 million.

🏖️ Miami: A condo at the luxurious Paramount Miami Worldcenter offers four bedrooms at $5 million for 3,814 square feet. You could always rent it for around $40,000 a month.

🌬️ Chicago: $5 million gets you a six-bedroom mansion in the Windy City's Lincoln Park neighborhood.

🏙️ Pittsburgh: $5.35 million even buys substantially more house than roughly the same money buys in nearby Pittsburgh, where a $4.95 million custom home offers 7,849 square feet on 3 acres.

The bottom line: $5 million buys luxury almost anywhere. Around Cleveland, it can buy an estate.

Data: Axios analysis of property listings and sales records; Chart: Troy Smith/Axios

What Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's $5.3M buys in Cleveland vs. America

Roughly $5 million buys luxury almost anywhere. Around Cleveland, it can buy an estate.

Modern balcony overlooking a city skyline. White outdoor seating around a glass coffee table on a yellow geometric rug, glass railing, and blue sky with fluffy clouds behind tall skyscrapers.

How much would the $5.35 million Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift spent in Northeast Ohio get them in, say, New York City? Photo: SammiJo/Getty Images 

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce&#x27;s new <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Northeast Ohio mansion" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/09/02/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-bratenahl-estate" data-vars-content-id="ff2ee422-b3ea-4c3a-9aa5-8c00fbdcc5aa" data-vars-headline="What Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce&#x27;s $5.3M buys in Cleveland vs. America" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/09/02/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-bratenahl-estate" target="_self">Northeast Ohio mansion</a> comes with something even their massive fortune can&#x27;t easily buy elsewhere — a whole lot of house.Why it matters: The couple&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="$5.35 million Bratenahl estate" data-vars-click-url="https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/luxury-homes/travis-kelce-ohio-home-550ef5fc?st=7AbJiL&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink" data-vars-content-id="ff2ee422-b3ea-4c3a-9aa5-8c00fbdcc5aa" data-vars-headline="What Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce&#x27;s $5.3M buys in Cleveland vs. America" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/luxury-homes/travis-kelce-ohio-home-550ef5fc?st=7AbJiL&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink" target="_blank">$5.35 million Bratenahl estate</a> shows how much further <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="luxury home dollars" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/07/10/luxury-homes-northeast-ohio-metro-sale" data-vars-content-id="ff2ee422-b3ea-4c3a-9aa5-8c00fbdcc5aa" data-vars-headline="What Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce&#x27;s $5.3M buys in Cleveland vs. America" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/07/10/luxury-homes-northeast-ohio-metro-sale" target="_self">luxury home dollars</a> stretch in Cleveland than in some of America&#x27;s priciest cities.

Troy Smith

Featured stories

Ohio colleges get poor marks for free speech in new rankings

Build your own Browns season

How Cleveland is marking 25 years since 9/11

How Oasis emerges as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's unlikely headliner

What Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's $5.3M buys in Cleveland vs. America