On October 1, 2026, after years of successfully defending students’ First Amendment rights on college campuses, Speech First has made the strategic decision to merge with Defending Education.
This is a natural evolution for two organizations that have always been closely connected. Nicole Neily founded both Speech First and Defending Education and serves as president of both organizations. Both were built around the same fundamental principle: students should not surrender their constitutional rights when they walk through the doors of a school or university.
The Speech First name will go away, but its mission will not. Its First Amendment work and legal rights will continue at Defending Education, backed by a larger legal, research, government relations and communications operation.
Same leadership. Same commitment to students’ constitutional rights. Greater capacity to carry the work forward.
Speech First brings its First Amendment expertise, litigation record and existing legal rights. Defending Education brings a larger staff and significant research, litigation, government relations and communications capacity. Defending Education also has a 501(c)(4), providing additional ability to pursue legislative and policy reforms at the state and federal levels.
Bringing Speech First into Defending Education consolidates two missions that have always been closely connected and puts more resources toward the work itself.
WHAT HAPPENS TO SPEECH FIRST’S COURT CASES?
Speech First’s legal victories do not disappear with the organization’s separate identity.
All legal rights associated with Speech First’s court cases are being transferred to Defending Education, including the ability to return to court if an institution backslides on a settled matter.
Both organizations already use the same appellate counsel, making the legal transition seamless.
The cases may be closed, but Defending Education retains the ability to defend those victories if they are threatened.
Bringing Speech First’s docket and expertise into that effort is therefore the next step, not a new direction.
Defending Education now has the ability to combine:
- Speech First’s established First Amendment expertise and litigation record.
- A larger litigation operation.
- Significant investigative and research capacity.
- Government relations capabilities at both the federal and state levels.
- A substantial communications and media operation.
- 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) capacity to pursue complementary legal, legislative and policy strategies.
Additionally, Defending Ed works to safeguard the constitutional rights of college students by:
- Providing resources to parents to help them prepare their students for college
- Releasing research reports exposing how students are being indoctrinated
- Filing civil rights complaints against universities that discriminate on the basis of race and sex
Speech First proved that focused litigation could change the campus free-speech landscape. The merger with Defending Education is about protecting those victories, finishing work that remains undone, and ensuring that the progress made today can withstand changes in university leadership and political power tomorrow. Through this merger, we are confident that the mission of Speech First will be carried on in a more effective and holistic manner than if we had stayed an independent organization.
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