Dear Friends of FAIR,

On Tuesday, Americans head to the polls for the midterm elections. For many of us, the weeks before Election Day bring a sense of exhaustion and a familiar strain. Yard signs go up, group chats get tense, and a family dinner can start to feel like a debate stage. Under that pressure, even thoughtful people can forget that the neighbor with the opposing sign is still a neighbor.

At FAIR, we believe the health of our democracy depends less on the outcome of any single election than on how citizens treat one another before, during, and after the votes are counted. Elections can and should demonstrate how a free people settle disagreements peacefully. They work only when we grant our fellow citizens the same right to their convictions that we claim for ourselves. FAIR does not endorse candidates or parties, but we do take a side on one principle: the way we disagree matters.

As Election Day approaches, we invite every member of the FAIR community to rise above the temperature of the moment. A few commitments can go a long way:

• Assume good faith. Most people who vote differently from you want many of the same things: safe schools and communities, equal rights and treatment, and opportunity for their children. They simply weigh those goods differently.

• Listen to understand. Ask a question before making a point. “What matters most to you about this issue?” opens more doors than “How could you possibly believe that?”

• Argue with ideas, not identities. Challenge a policy on its merits, and leave a person’s race, religion, or background out of it.

• Lower the volume online. Before you post or share, ask whether it informs or only inflames.

• Remember November 4. Whatever the results, we all wake up the next morning sharing the same towns, workplaces, and families.

None of these habits comes naturally. Respectful disagreement must be learned and practiced, which is why civil discourse sits at the heart of Many Stories, One Nation, FAIR’s high school ethnic studies curriculum. Every unit includes lessons where students apply the skills they’ve learned to questions on which thoughtful people genuinely disagree.

Along the way, students build a practical toolkit. They learn to steel-man, stating the strongest version of a view they don’t hold rather than knocking down a caricature, and to star-man, looking for the best intentions behind someone else’s position. Through lessons like the historical Periwig Controversy, they also discover that most public disputes are not right versus wrong but legitimate values in tension: liberty and security, tradition and change.

Ultimately, young people learn how to disagree with one another by watching the adults around them. Right now, they are watching viral takedowns and comment sections where contempt passes for argument. A diverse democracy cannot function if citizens see opponents as enemies. Equipping students to listen carefully, reason honestly, and disagree with dignity is civic preparation as essential as learning how a bill becomes law.

Many of today’s high school students will cast their first ballots in 2028. The question is whether they arrive at the polls having seen only the worst of public life, or whether someone has shown them a better way.

In the days ahead, model the conversation you hope to see. Vote, encourage others to vote, and then extend grace to those who vote differently. If you know a teacher, administrator, school board member, or homeschooling family who cares about these skills, please introduce them to Many Stories, One Nation or reach out to our curriculum team for more information.

Whatever happens on November 3, the work of building a nation where every person is treated fairly continues on November 4. We are grateful to walk that road with you.

With appreciation,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your inbox.

Donate

Help us find your chapter

Educators Alliance

FAIR is continuing the Educators Alliance for the 2026-2027 school year to equip PK–12 educators with the knowledge, strategies, and community support they need to foster schools that are more enriching and free from bias for students and educators.

We are at a turning point for education—and with the relaunch of FAIR’s Educators Alliance, we have an opportunity to step beyond polarization and create classrooms rooted in curiosity, dignity, and respect.

Each monthly gathering will open with updates and presentations from FAIR staff, fellows, Chapter Leaders, and occasional guest speakers. Together, we’ll explore strategies for supporting educators, communities, and local chapters—and for advancing positive change at the local, regional, and national levels. Following presentations, participants will have space for open forum discussions to connect, seek advice, and coordinate on pressing issues in their schools. Breakout rooms will be divided into PK-6 and 7-12 grade levels with experienced teachers facilitating those conversations.

Educators will also be invited to contribute to a new FAIR in Education newsletter, showcasing stories, strategies, and resources from across the FAIR network.

Whether you are a teacher, paraprofessional, or administrator, join us as we continue the FAIR Educators Alliance and shape the future of education together.

There are 7 meetings to sign up for down below. Scroll up and down below to see all of the sessions!

Nov 5, 2026 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Every month on the First Thu, until Apr 1, 2027, 1 hr sessions, 7 occurrences

Register Here

FAIR in Film presents: An Exclusive Screening of Generation Covid

An entire generation of children and families were deeply harmed by the response to Covid, resulting in half of American public schools being closed for nearly two years. The fallout has been a society-destroying scandal that our elected officials are still too afraid to address. Long past the time when adults resumed normalcy, American school children were onerously restricted, locked out of school and other social and developmental activities, kept alone and isolated and forced onto screens – all in spite of clear data showing Covid posed little threat to the young and healthy.

Generation Covid is the story of a forgotten generation who endured the biggest civil rights violations in a century, the largest propaganda campaign in American history and industrial scale censorship in spite of clear, incontrovertible evidence that lockdowns, school closures, vaccine mandates and forced masking were useless and harmful. Politicians and public health officials’ worst authoritarian impulses took hold and the press failed to hold power to account, leaving children voiceless.

Despite clear and incontrovertible real-time evidence of the harms being done, especially to the poor and working class, powerful forces sought to censor, silence and vilify anyone who questioned the efficacy of these unprecedented and unscientific decisions, and our children are still paying the price.

We all are.

Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Time: 7pm EST/4pm PST (until about 10:00pm EST)

Film: ~120 minute run time + 30 minute discussion

Register Here

Introducing: Arts After Hours

FAIR in the Arts is launching Arts After Hours, a monthly Zoom gathering for FAIR artists, members, and guests to meet one another, exchange ideas, share opportunities, and strengthen the courageous creative community we are building together.

This isn’t a webinar or a formal presentation. It’s a gathering.

Come tell us what you’re working on. Bring an idea you’d like to explore, an opportunity you’d like to share, a question or project for other artists, or simply come to meet writers, actors, filmmakers, musicians, visual artists, and other creative people who believe that art flourishes through curiosity, independence, open inquiry, and the courage to create authentically.

We’ll gather thereafter on the third Wednesday of every month.

FAIR in the Arts is becoming more than a place to defend artistic freedom. We want it to be a place where artists can use that freedom to create, connect, collaborate, and help shape the culture around us. I really hope you’ll join us.

Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2026

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT.

Every month on the third Wednesday.

Register Here

Note: Despite Zoom’s notice down below, FAIR maintains strict confidentiality of contact information provided.

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

This week, FAIR launched an Open Letter calling for approval of a federal advisory committee’s recommendation to suspend, for one year, the federal recognition of the American Psychological Association’s Commission on Accreditation (APA-CoA). By signing the letter, professionals and the public can make their views known before the final decision is made.

The letter makes one request: that the U.S. Department of Education accept the recommendation of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) in full, without softening it.

On September 24, NACIQI voted 7–4 to recommend the suspension after finding that the Commission “failed to address the pervasive culture of antisemitism within the programs that it accredits.” APA-CoA oversees more than 1,300 doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral programs in health-service psychology, the programs that train the nation’s future clinicians.

FAIR makes three arguments.

First, oversight cannot be outsourced. The Commission renewed accreditation for George Washington University’s clinical psychology program in 2025, months after the university entered a resolution agreement with the Department’s Office for Civil Rights over complaints that included allegations from Jewish and Israeli students in that program. The Commission later said it had never been informed of the complaints. An accreditor that learns about civil rights problems in its own programs only after federal investigators have done the work is not providing credible, independent oversight.

Second, a little-used complaint channel is a warning sign, not a defense. The Commission has noted it received only two antisemitism complaints in its accredited programs. Students took their concerns to universities, federal investigators, and Congress — but not to the body responsible for their programs. This shows the Commission’s system is not reaching the people it exists to protect.

Third, the remedy is proportionate. A suspension would not close any program, revoke any degree, or touch any psychologist’s license. As a programmatic accreditor, APA-CoA is not a gatekeeper for federal student aid, and the Commission would remain recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The suspension would hold the field’s accreditor, for one year, to the standard it applies to everyone else, and leave a clear path to restored recognition.

The letter builds on FAIR’s broader work on accreditation reform. In September, FAIR filed a formal comment supporting the Department’s proposed rules requiring accreditors to act neutrally with respect to viewpoint and to consider whether the schools they accredit protect academic freedom. At the NACIQI hearing, Douglas Novotny, Ph.D., Director of FAIR in Medicine testified on APA-CoA’s renewal.

NACIQI listened. The committee reached an independent judgment after hearing from the public and departed from the recommendation of the Department of Education’s own staff, who had advised continued recognition. Now the people who care about fair treatment in professional training have a chance to make sure that recommendation stands.

No deadline has been announced for the Under Secretary’s decision, which makes early support especially valuable. Signatures gathered now will be delivered to the Department of Education. Add your name today to the Open Letter to the Department of Education, and share it with colleagues who believe every student and trainee deserves equal treatment.

In just a few weeks, FAIR has filed a formal comment on federal accreditation rules, testified before NACIQI, and launched this Open Letter. Accreditation decisions shape what future clinicians, lawyers, and educators are taught, and FAIR is making sure the public’s voice is part of that process.

Donate today to help FAIR expand this work across the professions, from psychology and medicine to law and education. Every contribution, no matter the size, keeps FAIR in the rooms where these decisions are made.

Thank you for standing with FAIR.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your inbox.

Donate

Help us find your chapter

FAIR in Film presents: An Exclusive Screening of “Speechless”

Private first time screening to a US audience.

Join FAIR for an exclusive screening of Speechless, a provocative documentary exploring the battle over free speech on college campuses and what it means for the future of higher education and democracy.

The film—which is now available to a U.S. audience for the first time—is a gripping investigation into the breakdown of open inquiry in the very institutions meant to protect it, and what happens to a democracy when it loses faith in free speech, honest disagreement, and the hard work of conversation.

The post-film discussion will include several renowned panelists, offering a range of perspectives on the issues explored in the film.

Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT.

Film: ~120 minute run time + 45 minute discussion

Register Here

Introducing: Arts After Hours

FAIR in the Arts is launching Arts After Hours, a monthly Zoom gathering for FAIR artists, members, and guests to meet one another, exchange ideas, share opportunities, and strengthen the courageous creative community we are building together.

This isn’t a webinar or a formal presentation. It’s a gathering.

Come tell us what you’re working on. Bring an idea you’d like to explore, an opportunity you’d like to share, a question or project for other artists, or simply come to meet writers, actors, filmmakers, musicians, visual artists, and other creative people who believe that art flourishes through curiosity, independence, open inquiry, and the courage to create authentically.

Our first After Hours gathering will be held Wednesday, October 21 at 7:00 PM ET, and we’ll gather thereafter on the third Wednesday of every month.

FAIR in the Arts is becoming more than a place to defend artistic freedom. We want it to be a place where artists can use that freedom to create, connect, collaborate, and help shape the culture around us. I really hope you’ll join us.

Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT.

Every month on the third Wednesday.

Register Here

Educators Alliance

FAIR is continuing the Educators Alliance for the 2026-2027 school year to equip PK–12 educators with the knowledge, strategies, and community support they need to foster schools that are more enriching and free from bias for students and educators.

We are at a turning point for education—and with the relaunch of FAIR’s Educators Alliance, we have an opportunity to step beyond polarization and create classrooms rooted in curiosity, dignity, and respect.

Each monthly gathering will open with updates and presentations from FAIR staff, fellows, Chapter Leaders, and occasional guest speakers. Together, we’ll explore strategies for supporting educators, communities, and local chapters—and for advancing positive change at the local, regional, and national levels. Following presentations, participants will have space for open forum discussions to connect, seek advice, and coordinate on pressing issues in their schools. Breakout rooms will be divided into PK-6 and 7-12 grade levels with experienced teachers facilitating those conversations.

Educators will also be invited to contribute to a new FAIR in Education newsletter, showcasing stories, strategies, and resources from across the FAIR network.

Whether you are a teacher, paraprofessional, or administrator, join us as we continue the FAIR Educators Alliance and shape the future of education together.

There are 7 meetings to sign up for down below. Scroll up and down below to see all of the sessions!

Nov 5, 2026 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Every month on the First Thu, until Apr 1, 2027, 1 hr sessions, 7 occurrences

Register Here

FAIR in Film presents: An Exclusive Screening of Generation Covid

An entire generation of children and families were deeply harmed by the response to Covid, resulting in half of American public schools being closed for nearly two years. The fallout has been a society-destroying scandal that our elected officials are still too afraid to address. Long past the time when adults resumed normalcy, American school children were onerously restricted, locked out of school and other social and developmental activities, kept alone and isolated and forced onto screens – all in spite of clear data showing Covid posed little threat to the young and healthy.

Generation Covid is the story of a forgotten generation who endured the biggest civil rights violations in a century, the largest propaganda campaign in American history and industrial scale censorship in spite of clear, incontrovertible evidence that lockdowns, school closures, vaccine mandates and forced masking were useless and harmful. Politicians and public health officials’ worst authoritarian impulses took hold and the press failed to hold power to account, leaving children voiceless.

Despite clear and incontrovertible real-time evidence of the harms being done, especially to the poor and working class, powerful forces sought to censor, silence and vilify anyone who questioned the efficacy of these unprecedented and unscientific decisions, and our children are still paying the price.

We all are.

Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Time: 7pm EST/4pm PST (until about 10:00pm EST)

Film: ~120 minute run time + 30 minute discussion

Register Here

Note: Despite Zoom’s notice down below, FAIR maintains strict confidentiality of contact information provided.

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

For the past four years, FAIR in the Arts has provided grants to 30 artists and arts organizations. Those grants have helped pay for rehearsal space, performers, production costs, marketing, pitch materials, and other practical necessities of making art. But money is only part of the story.

Again and again, grant recipients have told us that FAIR’s support provided something less tangible, and perhaps more consequential: the validation to be an independent artist, to resist conformity, and to trust the work they felt called to create.

It’s no surprise to even the most agreeable artist that our current artistic culture is burdened by fear, conformity, and self-censorship. Artists may have a responsibility to be faithful to their gifts, but fulfilling that responsibility requires courage -- the willingness to take risks, venture beyond what has already been culturally sanctioned, and discover what is authentic and genuinely new. That is why FAIR in the Arts awards Artist Grants.

FAIR believes art should be produced, published, curated, funded, and adjudicated according to the quality and integrity of the work; not according to an artist’s ideological alignment or identity category. Our goal is not to tell artists what they should say. Our aim is to help create a culture in which artists are free to discover what they have to say.

In our upcoming “Artists at Work” series, FAIR in the Arts interim director Karen Howes will explore what that support means in practice. We will introduce artists, disciplines, projects, and stories as we highlight how artistic courage is enabled when someone is willing to stand behind an artist’s work. Courage also surfaced during our September FAIR in Conversation discussion, “Is Woke Dead… or Just on Pause?” At the end of the discussion, participants agreed on a striking conclusion: cultural change ultimately requires individuals willing to resist conformity and act courageously.

Since artists have a particularly important role in that effort, and as we prepare for our 2027 Artist Grant Cycle, “Artists at Work” will demonstrate why FAIR in the Arts’ grants matter and why we need to fund many more. We believe that supporting an artist isn’t simply funding a project. It is helping create the conditions and culture in which artists are free to be courageous, resist conformity, and make the work that only they can make.

FAIR in Film Fundraisers: Launching the 2027 Artist Grant Fundraising Round

You can help make that work possible. We’re launching our 2027 fundraising round for the FAIR Artist Grants and FAIR’s broader mission by featuring three early release film screenings on topics that align with FAIR’s principles. These films are brand new and address today’s most challenging and thought-provoking issues. In each, a filmmaker shares their film and joins a discussion with the FAIR community, and every event raises funds for FAIR, including the Artist Grants program.

• Speechless by Ric Beinstock: Be part of the first U.S. audience to screen this amazing film. Speechless explores campus free speech battles through interviews and cases, including DEI conflicts, discrimination lawsuits, political shifts at colleges, and academic freedom debates across US institutions. Wednesday, October 28, 2026 @ 7 EST.

Registration link: Speechless Screening & Panel Discussion, Wed. 10/28 @ 7 EST

• Generation COVID by Andrew James and Jennifer Sey. While some children fortunately emerged from COVID lockdowns relatively unscathed, school closures had catastrophic effects on many others. The film reminds us of the mistakes we should never repeat. It’s not political. It’s about kids. Wednesday, November 11, 2026 @ 7 EST.

Registration link: Generation COVID Screening & Panel Discussion, Wed. 11/11 @ 7 EST

• White Guilt by Eli Steele: White Guilt is a documentary essay by Eli Steele, drawn from the lifework of his father, Shelby Steele. It is the story of a man who saw the evil that others could not, or would not, and who named it and refused to back off of it for fifty years. Tuesday, December 1, 2026 @ 7 EST.

Registration link: White Guilt Screening & Panel Discussion, Tues. 12/1 @ 7 EST

Each screening offers more than a chance to see a provocative new documentary. It’s an opportunity to engage directly with the filmmakers, explore the ideas and challenges behind their work, and join a community that values artistic courage and independent thought.

Your registration does more than reserve a seat. It helps fund FAIR and the next round of FAIR Artist Grants, giving more community members and artists the resources, encouragement, and freedom to bring their own uncompromising visions to life.

Join us for one or all three of these remarkable films. Registering for a $10 or $25 ticket goes a long way: watch the film, stay for the conversation, and help make the next generation of independent art possible.

With Gratitude,

The FAIR Team

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your inbox.

Donate

Help us find your chapter

FAIR in Film presents: An Exclusive Screening of “Speechless”

Private first time screening to a US audience.

Join FAIR for an exclusive screening of Speechless, a provocative documentary exploring the battle over free speech on college campuses and what it means for the future of higher education and democracy.

The film—which is now available to a U.S. audience for the first time—is a gripping investigation into the breakdown of open inquiry in the very institutions meant to protect it, and what happens to a democracy when it loses faith in free speech, honest disagreement, and the hard work of conversation.

The post-film discussion will include several renowned panelists, offering a range of perspectives on the issues explored in the film.

Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT.

Film: ~120 minute run time + 45 minute discussion

Register Here

Introducing: Arts After Hours

FAIR in the Arts is launching Arts After Hours, a monthly Zoom gathering for FAIR artists, members, and guests to meet one another, exchange ideas, share opportunities, and strengthen the courageous creative community we are building together.

This isn’t a webinar or a formal presentation. It’s a gathering.

Come tell us what you’re working on. Bring an idea you’d like to explore, an opportunity you’d like to share, a question or project for other artists, or simply come to meet writers, actors, filmmakers, musicians, visual artists, and other creative people who believe that art flourishes through curiosity, independence, open inquiry, and the courage to create authentically.

Our first After Hours gathering will be held Wednesday, October 21 at 7:00 PM ET, and we’ll gather thereafter on the third Wednesday of every month.

FAIR in the Arts is becoming more than a place to defend artistic freedom. We want it to be a place where artists can use that freedom to create, connect, collaborate, and help shape the culture around us. I really hope you’ll join us.

Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT.

Every month on the third Wednesday.

Register Here

Educators Alliance

FAIR is continuing the Educators Alliance for the 2026-2027 school year to equip PK–12 educators with the knowledge, strategies, and community support they need to foster schools that are more enriching and free from bias for students and educators.

We are at a turning point for education—and with the relaunch of FAIR’s Educators Alliance, we have an opportunity to step beyond polarization and create classrooms rooted in curiosity, dignity, and respect.

Each monthly gathering will open with updates and presentations from FAIR staff, fellows, Chapter Leaders, and occasional guest speakers. Together, we’ll explore strategies for supporting educators, communities, and local chapters—and for advancing positive change at the local, regional, and national levels. Following presentations, participants will have space for open forum discussions to connect, seek advice, and coordinate on pressing issues in their schools. Breakout rooms will be divided into PK-6 and 7-12 grade levels with experienced teachers facilitating those conversations.

Educators will also be invited to contribute to a new FAIR in Education newsletter, showcasing stories, strategies, and resources from across the FAIR network.

Whether you are a teacher, paraprofessional, or administrator, join us as we continue the FAIR Educators Alliance and shape the future of education together.

There are 7 meetings to sign up for down below. Scroll up and down below to see all of the sessions!

Oct 1, 2026 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Every month on the First Thu, until Apr 1, 2027, 1 hr sessions, 7 occurrences

Register Here

FAIR in Film presents: An Exclusive Screening of Generation Covid

An entire generation of children and families were deeply harmed by the response to Covid, resulting in half of American public schools being closed for nearly two years. The fallout has been a society-destroying scandal that our elected officials are still too afraid to address. Long past the time when adults resumed normalcy, American school children were onerously restricted, locked out of school and other social and developmental activities, kept alone and isolated and forced onto screens – all in spite of clear data showing Covid posed little threat to the young and healthy.

Generation Covid is the story of a forgotten generation who endured the biggest civil rights violations in a century, the largest propaganda campaign in American history and industrial scale censorship in spite of clear, incontrovertible evidence that lockdowns, school closures, vaccine mandates and forced masking were useless and harmful. Politicians and public health officials’ worst authoritarian impulses took hold and the press failed to hold power to account, leaving children voiceless.

Despite clear and incontrovertible real-time evidence of the harms being done, especially to the poor and working class, powerful forces sought to censor, silence and vilify anyone who questioned the efficacy of these unprecedented and unscientific decisions, and our children are still paying the price.

We all are.

Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Time: 7pm EST/4pm PST (until about 10:00pm EST)

Film: ~120 minute run time + 30 minute discussion

Register Here

White Guilt

White Guilt is a documentary essay by Eli Steele, drawn from the lifework of his father, Shelby Steele. It is the story of a man who saw the evil that others could not, or would not, and who named it and refused to back off of it for fifty years.

After the 1960s Civil Rights victories, white America stood accused and were desperate to regain moral authority and escape the stain of racism. That frantic need birthed white guilt, a moral collapse that replaced merit with victimhood, standards with excuses, and individual responsibility with grievance power.

The result: failing schools, dependency programs, racial division, riots, defund-the-police chaos—and now a global wave where Hamas’s October 7 atrocities are called “resistance,” campus antisemitism is tolerated, and anti-Western tribalism gains ground.

Date: December 1, 2026

Time: 7pm EST/4pm PST (until about 10:00pm EST)

Register Here

Note: Despite Zoom’s notice down below, FAIR maintains strict confidentiality of contact information provided.

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

On October 5, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice sent a joint letter to every state attorney general with a straightforward request: help make sure schools follow federal parental rights laws. The letter asks attorneys general to work with school districts on compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA).

FAIR members may recognize the subject. In September, we shared the Department of Education’s annual back-to-school guidance on these same two laws. The joint letter goes a step further by asking state officials to take an active role in enforcement, so districts will likely feel more pressure to get their practices right.

One practice gets particular attention: mental health screenings. According to the Departments, some schools continue to administer these screenings without first getting written permission from parents. Before a student completes a mental health screening or any similar evaluation, the Departments say, schools must notify parents and obtain prior written consent. An opt-out form sent home does not meet that standard.

Under PPRA, which has been federal law for decades, students in programs funded by the U.S. Department of Education cannot be required to take part in a survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals certain sensitive information without a parent’s prior written consent. The law lists eight protected areas, including political beliefs, mental or psychological problems of the student or family, sexual behavior or attitudes, religious practices, and family income.

The difference between “opt in” and “opt out” may sound like a technicality, but in practice, the two mechanisms can produce very different results.

An opt-out puts the burden on parents because the family has to notice the form, read it, understand what is being asked, and return it before a deadline. A notice buried in a back-to-school packet can easily slip by a busy household. Written consent, by contrast, reverses the burden: nothing happens until a parent has seen what the school plans to ask and said yes.

Students feel the difference, too. When a teacher or counselor hands a child a questionnaire, most children assume they have to fill it out. Asking parents first protects kids who would never think to say no.

PPRA’s requirements vary depending on how a survey is funded and whether participation is required, and the joint letter reflects the Departments’ reading of the statute. Some districts may push back on the details. The goal of asking isn’t to win an argument, but to learn what your school actually does and to get that answer in writing.

FAIR’s FERPA & PPRA Parental Rights Template Letter makes that easy. The letter asks your district to confirm in writing that it obtains written parental consent before administering any sensitive survey or mental health screener, does not keep “unofficial” student records beyond parents’ access rights under FERPA, and makes curriculum available for parent review on request. Download the template letter here.

A few other steps worth taking this fall:

• Find your district’s annual notice. Districts that receive federal funds must notify parents of their FERPA and PPRA rights each year. If you don’t remember seeing one, ask where it was posted.

• Ask to see any survey or screener in advance. You have the right to review these materials before they reach your child.

• Keep a record. Save copies of your requests and the district’s responses.

FAIR approaches this as a civics and transparency issue, not a partisan one. Families of every political view, faith, and background benefit when schools are open about what they ask children and what records they keep. Clear consent rules build trust between parents and educators.

If your school has administered a survey or screening without your written consent, or has denied you access to your child’s records, we want to hear from you. Reach out through your local FAIR Chapter or submit a report through FAIR Incident Reporting.

Resources like this template letter are free to every family because FAIR members and donors make them possible. If this tool helps you or someone you know, please consider making a gift to FAIR today.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your inbox.

Donate

Help us find your chapter

OTI Conference on Political Bias and Mental Health

Earlier this year, FAIR announced its collaboration with the Open Therapy Institute. Read Here.

FAIR members are invited to join the Open Therapy Institute‘s Conference on Political Bias and Mental Health, October 9–11, in Washington, DC.

The program features a live podcast recording with Rob Henderson and Erica Komisar, a panel with Sally Satel, and more. A total of 9.25 CE credits are available.

Use code OTISPECIALRATE2026 for 50% off.

We hope to see you in DC!

Register Here

FAIR in Film presents: An Exclusive Screening of “Speechless”

Private first time screening to a US audience.

Join FAIR for an exclusive screening of Speechless, a provocative documentary exploring the battle over free speech on college campuses and what it means for the future of higher education and democracy.

The film—which is now available to a U.S. audience for the first time—is a gripping investigation into the breakdown of open inquiry in the very institutions meant to protect it, and what happens to a democracy when it loses faith in free speech, honest disagreement, and the hard work of conversation.

The post-film discussion will include several renowned panelists, offering a range of perspectives on the issues explored in the film.

Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT.

Film: ~120 minute run time + 45 minute discussion

Register Here

Introducing: Arts After Hours

FAIR in the Arts is launching Arts After Hours, a monthly Zoom gathering for FAIR artists, members, and guests to meet one another, exchange ideas, share opportunities, and strengthen the courageous creative community we are building together.

This isn’t a webinar or a formal presentation. It’s a gathering.

Come tell us what you’re working on. Bring an idea you’d like to explore, an opportunity you’d like to share, a question or project for other artists, or simply come to meet writers, actors, filmmakers, musicians, visual artists, and other creative people who believe that art flourishes through curiosity, independence, open inquiry, and the courage to create authentically.

Our first After Hours gathering will be held Wednesday, October 21 at 7:00 PM ET, and we’ll gather thereafter on the third Wednesday of every month.

FAIR in the Arts is becoming more than a place to defend artistic freedom. We want it to be a place where artists can use that freedom to create, connect, collaborate, and help shape the culture around us. I really hope you’ll join us.

Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT.

Every month on the third Wednesday.

Register Here

Educators Alliance

FAIR is continuing the Educators Alliance for the 2026-2027 school year to equip PK–12 educators with the knowledge, strategies, and community support they need to foster schools that are more enriching and free from bias for students and educators.

We are at a turning point for education—and with the relaunch of FAIR’s Educators Alliance, we have an opportunity to step beyond polarization and create classrooms rooted in curiosity, dignity, and respect.

Each monthly gathering will open with updates and presentations from FAIR staff, fellows, Chapter Leaders, and occasional guest speakers. Together, we’ll explore strategies for supporting educators, communities, and local chapters—and for advancing positive change at the local, regional, and national levels. Following presentations, participants will have space for open forum discussions to connect, seek advice, and coordinate on pressing issues in their schools. Breakout rooms will be divided into PK-6 and 7-12 grade levels with experienced teachers facilitating those conversations.

Educators will also be invited to contribute to a new FAIR in Education newsletter, showcasing stories, strategies, and resources from across the FAIR network.

Whether you are a teacher, paraprofessional, or administrator, join us as we continue the FAIR Educators Alliance and shape the future of education together.

There are 7 meetings to sign up for down below. Scroll up and down below to see all of the sessions!

Oct 1, 2026 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Every month on the First Thu, until Apr 1, 2027, 1 hr sessions, 7 occurrences

Register Here

FAIR in Film presents: An Exclusive Screening of Generation Covid

An entire generation of children and families were deeply harmed by the response to Covid, resulting in half of American public schools being closed for nearly two years. The fallout has been a society-destroying scandal that our elected officials are still too afraid to address. Long past the time when adults resumed normalcy, American school children were onerously restricted, locked out of school and other social and developmental activities, kept alone and isolated and forced onto screens – all in spite of clear data showing Covid posed little threat to the young and healthy.

Generation Covid is the story of a forgotten generation who endured the biggest civil rights violations in a century, the largest propaganda campaign in American history and industrial scale censorship in spite of clear, incontrovertible evidence that lockdowns, school closures, vaccine mandates and forced masking were useless and harmful. Politicians and public health officials’ worst authoritarian impulses took hold and the press failed to hold power to account, leaving children voiceless.

Despite clear and incontrovertible real-time evidence of the harms being done, especially to the poor and working class, powerful forces sought to censor, silence and vilify anyone who questioned the efficacy of these unprecedented and unscientific decisions, and our children are still paying the price.

We all are.

Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Time: 7pm EST/4pm PST (until about 10:00pm EST)

Film: ~120 minute run time + 30 minute discussion

Register Here

Note: Despite Zoom’s notice down below, FAIR maintains strict confidentiality of contact information provided.

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear FAIR Community,

This Wednesday marks three years since October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists brutally murdered 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostages. For many of you, that day was never distant news. It was a phone call from a relative or friend you will never forget, a name you recognized, and a grief that has not eased with time.

We take this moment to honor the lives taken, the families still mourning, and everyone who carries that day with them. Zichronam livracha. May their memories be a blessing.

In the months after October 7, antisemitism in the United States rose to levels not seen in generations — and by many measures, the climate has worsened. A June AP-NORC poll found that only one in three Jewish Americans feels safe in this country, and 40% are now less likely to wear anything that identifies them as Jewish. The ADL’s 2025 audit recorded 6,274 incidents of antisemitism, which were fewer than the year before but included a record number of physical assaults and three killings.

Each of these numbers represents a person: a student who stopped wearing a Star of David to school, a parent wondering whether to mention an antisemitic slur to a principal, a congregation that now includes armed security in its budget. No community in America should have to live this way, and no one who believes in equal dignity should accept this climate as normal.

Much of today’s antisemitism arises from a simple but corrosive error: treating Jewish Americans as stand-ins for the government of Israel. The ADL found that almost half of all antisemitic incidents in 2025 were related to Israel or Zionism. This conflation has become so prevalent that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s working definition of antisemitism, adopted by many state and local governments as well as school districts, names it explicitly: holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the State of Israel.

The IHRA also states that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.” FAIR believes this distinction matters. The IHRA definition is a tool for identifying harassment and discrimination, not for policing political opinion or freedom of expression. Students and citizens remain free to criticize any government, including Israel’s. What they may not do is target, exclude, or harass a Jewish person because of that government’s actions.

Jewish Americans hold a wide range of views on Israel and its government, just as Americans of every background hold a wide range of views on every government, including their own. Some feel a deep and passionate connection to Israel; others are critical of it; many hold views that are more complicated and nuanced. Yet none of these views is a condition for dignity, safety, or belonging.

No one should have to declare a political position before being welcomed into a classroom, a workplace, or a community. No one should be blamed for the actions of a government they did not elect. A Jewish person should never be pressured to denounce Israel to earn acceptance, nor should they be presumed to speak for it.

FAIR’s answer to hatred has always been the same: see every person as an individual, not as a label or category. This principle asks something of each of us.

Speak up early. Antisemitism rarely begins with violence. It starts with a joke that goes unchallenged, a slur scrawled on a desk, a student excluded from a group project. Naming these moments clearly, before they escalate, is one of the most protective things we can do.

Keep talking across differences. Our membership includes people with very different views on the Middle East. We can disagree vehemently about domestic and foreign policy and still agree that no one should feel unsafe in a classroom, a workplace, or their community because they are Jewish.

When Your Child’s School Falls Short. Schools have a legal duty to protect every student from a hostile learning environment. When a school applies its anti-harassment policies to some students and not others, parents have every right to ask why. If your child’s school is not taking antisemitism seriously, you don’t have to start from a blank page. FAIR has prepared a template letter for addressing antisemitism and a hostile environment in schools. You can adapt it to your situation and send it to your school or district.

We also recommend finding out whether your school district, city, or state has adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism. If it has formally adopted the IHRA definition, cite that in your letter. A district or municipality that has taken this step has told its community how it recognizes antisemitism, and parents are entitled to ask it to apply that standard and take action.

Federal law also protects students. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, schools that receive federal funds must respond to harassment based on shared ancestry that creates a hostile environment. A clear, measured letter that documents what happened, cites the relevant policy, and asks specific questions often gets a faster and more serious response than a phone call.

Every day, FAIR works to make sure institutions treat all Americans as individuals deserving of equal dignity and respect. We equip parents with tools like the antisemitism template letter, advocate for institutions to apply policies consistently, and develop curricula that teach students to see one another as fellow citizens instead of representatives of a group.

If FAIR’s mission matters to you, please consider making a gift today. Every contribution helps us stand with families confronting antisemitism in schools and beyond.

Three years later, we remember and commit, once again, to a country where no one has to hide who they are to be safe.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox.

Donate

Help us find your chapter

Educators Alliance

FAIR is continuing the Educators Alliance for the 2026-2027 school year to equip PK–12 educators with the knowledge, strategies, and community support they need to foster schools that are more enriching and free from bias for students and educators.

We are at a turning point for education—and with the relaunch of FAIR’s Educators Alliance, we have an opportunity to step beyond polarization and create classrooms rooted in curiosity, dignity, and respect.

Each monthly gathering will open with updates and presentations from FAIR staff, fellows, Chapter Leaders, and occasional guest speakers. Together, we’ll explore strategies for supporting educators, communities, and local chapters—and for advancing positive change at the local, regional, and national levels. Following presentations, participants will have space for open forum discussions to connect, seek advice, and coordinate on pressing issues in their schools. Breakout rooms will be divided into PK-6 and 7-12 grade levels with experienced teachers facilitating those conversations.

Educators will also be invited to contribute to a new FAIR in Education newsletter, showcasing stories, strategies, and resources from across the FAIR network.

Whether you are a teacher, paraprofessional, or administrator, join us as we continue the FAIR Educators Alliance and shape the future of education together.

There are 6 meetings left to sign up for down below.

Next Session: Nov 5th, 2026 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Every month on the First Thu, until Apr 1, 2027, 1 hr sessions, 7 occurrences

Note: Despite Zoom’s notice, FAIR maintains strict confidentiality of contact information provided.

OTI Conference on Political Bias and Mental Health

Earlier this year FAIR announced its collaboration with the Open Therapy Institute read here.

FAIR members are invited to join the Open Therapy Institute‘s Conference on Political Bias and Mental Health, October 9–11, in Washington, DC.

The program features a live podcast recording with Rob Henderson and Erica Komisar, a panel with Sally Satel, and more. 9.25 CE credits available.

Use code OTISPECIALRATE2026 for 50% off. Register here.

We hope to see you in DC!

Speechless Film Screening

Tickets Now on Sale - See Below

Join FAIR for an exclusive screening of Speechless, a provocative documentary exploring the battle over free speech on college campuses and what it means for the future of higher education and democracy.

The film—which is now available to a U.S. audience for the first time—is a gripping investigation into the breakdown of open inquiry in the very institutions meant to protect it, and what happens to a democracy when it loses faith in free speech, honest disagreement, and the hard work of conversation.

The post-film discussion will include several renowned panelists, offering a range of perspectives on the issues explored in the film.

The 102-minute film will be followed by a 45-minute discussion.

October 28 at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT.

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

Every October, Banned Books Week arrives with a familiar script: one side warns that censorship is sweeping the nation, and the other insists nobody is banning anything. Both camps dig in their heels, and the public walks away more confused than before.

This year, Banned Books Week runs October 4–10 and ends with Freedom to Read Day on October 10. FAIR believed this debate deserves better framing. We should ask not only which books are being removed, but which books never reached shelves at all.

When officials pull books from a public library because they dislike the ideas inside, intellectual freedom suffers. But a more insidious form of censorship often happens earlier, when the people choosing books decide certain perspectives simply don’t belong in libraries. As a result, a library can loudly celebrate Banned Books Week while stocking dozens of titles on one side of a contested issue and ignoring the others.

FAIR’s solution is simple: a neutral library that doesn’t tell patrons what to think, offers viewpoint diversity, applies its policies fairly, and trusts readers to decide for themselves. That is the mission of FAIR in Libraries (FiL).

FiL now has its own page on our website. This year, FiL has:

• Released the Neutrality & Viewpoint Diversity Toolkit

• Published a series of Substack articles on library neutrality and collection bias

• Built a collaboration with the Association of Library Professionals

• Developed the Library Watchers Project

Each of these resources gives parents, patrons, librarians, and board members practical tools to keep libraries open to every point of view, and your gift decides how far that work reaches. The Library Neutrality Fund supports FAIR’s library work, from new resources to the Library Watchers Project. If you have ever found your library’s shelves tilted in one direction, help us tip them back toward balance.

Library neutrality succeeds or fails one purchase decision at a time, and sometimes the clearest evidence comes from a single patron who asks. FiL member Dr. Anne Mulhern asked her local public library to add a book her community wanted, and her story — which we shared yesterday — became the seed of a new initiative.

Through our new Incident Reporting page FiL is now collecting cases where a public library excluded a book despite clearly expressed community demand. Reports are welcome from anywhere in North America. Library systems differ by region, and bias can show up in different ways. One story is easy to dismiss, but a documented record of incidents reveals the larger pattern.

For Banned Books Week, the FiL team has also refreshed its Banned Books Week Resources page, which curates perspectives from across the spectrum: PEN America and the ALA, FIRE, Heterodox Libraries, and scholars who question whether “book ban” counts tell the whole story.

Read widely and disagree freely. That’s the essence of library neutrality.

October is also Canadian Library Month, and this year’s theme is “Loud for Libraries.” We agree. Being loud for libraries means showing up at board meetings, requesting the books your community wants, and insisting that book collections reflect the full range of views your neighbors hold.

Few people understand this better than Cathy Simpson, who leads FiL. Cathy plans to submit her application for a seat on her local library board following the October 26th municipal elections in Ontario. Municipal councils are responsible for appointing library board members, typically within a few months of taking office. She will share her experience in an upcoming Substack article. Stay tuned.

This Banned Books Week, be bold. Pick up a book you expect to disagree with. Check whether your library carries it. If not, request it. And if your request goes nowhere, let us know so we can take action.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox.

Donate

Help us find your chapter

Educators Alliance

FAIR is continuing the Educators Alliance for the 2026-2027 school year to equip PK–12 educators with the knowledge, strategies, and community support they need to foster schools that are more enriching and free from bias for students and educators.

We are at a turning point for education—and with the relaunch of FAIR’s Educators Alliance, we have an opportunity to step beyond polarization and create classrooms rooted in curiosity, dignity, and respect.

Each monthly gathering will open with updates and presentations from FAIR staff, fellows, Chapter Leaders, and occasional guest speakers. Together, we’ll explore strategies for supporting educators, communities, and local chapters—and for advancing positive change at the local, regional, and national levels. Following presentations, participants will have space for open forum discussions to connect, seek advice, and coordinate on pressing issues in their schools. Breakout rooms will be divided into PK-6 and 7-12 grade levels with experienced teachers facilitating those conversations.

Educators will also be invited to contribute to a new FAIR in Education newsletter, showcasing stories, strategies, and resources from across the FAIR network.

Whether you are a teacher, paraprofessional, or administrator, join us as we continue the FAIR Educators Alliance and shape the future of education together.

There are 6 meetings left to sign up for down below.

Next Session: Nov 5th, 2026 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Every month on the First Thu, until Apr 1, 2027, 1 hr sessions, 7 occurrences

Note: Despite Zoom’s notice, FAIR maintains strict confidentiality of contact information provided.

OTI Conference on Political Bias and Mental Health

Earlier this year FAIR announced its collaboration with the Open Therapy Institute read here.

FAIR members are invited to join the Open Therapy Institute‘s Conference on Political Bias and Mental Health, October 9–11, in Washington, DC.

The program features a live podcast recording with Rob Henderson and Erica Komisar, a panel with Sally Satel, and more. 9.25 CE credits available.

Use code OTISPECIALRATE2026 for 50% off. Register here.

We hope to see you in DC!

Speechless Film Screening

Save the Date: October 28, 2026

Join FAIR for an exclusive screening of Speechless, a provocative documentary exploring the battle over free speech on college campuses and what it means for the future of higher education and democracy.

The 102-minute film will be followed by a 45-minute discussion.

October 28 at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT. More details and registration coming soon.

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

Accreditation is the most powerful lever in American higher education that almost no one outside of it can name. This month FAIR moved to pull it.

On September 21, FAIR filed a formal comment with the U.S. Department of Education on its proposed overhaul of the rules governing accreditation. Two days later, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, the federal advisory committee that reviews accreditors, met to consider whether the American Bar Association should keep its authority to accredit the nation’s law schools. FAIR requested time to address the committee and was not among those selected to speak.

Accreditors are private organizations that hold significant public power. A school that loses its accreditation also loses access to federal student aid, which totals more than $100 billion a year. For law schools, the stakes are even higher: nearly every state requires a degree from an ABA-approved school before a graduate may sit for the bar exam. That makes accreditors gatekeepers in the most literal sense, and when a gatekeeper requires institutions to adopt a particular set of beliefs, a function meant to assure educational quality quietly becomes a licensing power over the ideas practitioners must adopt.

It’s worth tracking how this process works, because the power of accreditation is easy to overlook.

First, a requirement is written into an accreditation standard. Schools then rewrite their policies to comply because the alternative is losing their students’ access to financial aid. Those policies in turn shape a school’s hiring, promotion, and curriculum. Eventually students may be compelled to take an ideologically driven course in order to graduate — a requirement set by a governing body they have likely never heard of and to which they have no ability to appeal.

FAIR and its members have seen this process play out again and again, and we seized an opportunity to correct it.

FAIR’s comment letter supports two of the Department’s proposed rules: the first would require accreditors to make decisions that are neutral with respect to viewpoint and ideology, and the second would require them to consider whether the schools they accredit protect academic freedom and intellectual diversity. We also asked the Department to limit its own rule. A requirement that institutions maintain and apply a policy is legitimate. A rule read to require any particular distribution of viewpoints among faculty would be a mandate of exactly the kind this rulemaking is meant to end, pointed in a different direction. FAIR opposes ideological mandates, not merely the ones we happen to disagree with, and we asked the Department to put that limitation in the text of the rule rather than leaving it in the preamble.

Earlier this month, the ABA’s accrediting council repealed Standard 206, which had required law schools to demonstrate “concrete action” toward diversity. While FAIR welcomes this change, we note that council members stated that their vote was aimed at protecting the council’s standing as the nation’s primary law school accreditor. Our concern is that what a council repeals in order to keep its monopoly can be restored once the monopoly is secure.

Had we been given an opportunity to speak before the committee this week, FAIR would have asked it to accept the staff recommendation and deny renewal, or at minimum decline to extend the council’s waiver of the independence requirement. More importantly, we would have urged the Department to recognize additional accreditors of law schools so that schools are not limited to a single accreditor, and students can choose among law schools that genuinely differ. We intend to keep pressing both points.

None of this stops at law schools. The rules FAIR commented on would apply to every recognized accreditor in the country, and the American Psychological Association’s Commission on Accreditation appeared before the same committee this week seeking renewal of its own recognition. Last year, that commission paused, but did not repeal, the diversity requirement in its own standards. Several FAIR members submitted their own comments urging a stricter review of the commission’s recognition.

Federal recognition is a privilege, not a right, and the government should not lend that privilege to a private body doing indirectly what the First Amendment forbids the government to do directly. Viewpoint diversity in all professions begins with structural diversity in those who accredit them.

We will report back on what comes of this. In the meantime, if you are a student, a faculty member, or a clinician who has been required to affirm something you did not believe in order to graduate, to be hired, or to keep your license, we want to hear from you.

But this isn’t work we can do alone. It only happens because people like you make it possible.

Your gift today helps FAIR stay in rooms like this one, where decisions that shape American education are made quietly and with almost no one watching. No matter the size, your donation helps us keep showing up.

Thank you for standing behind this important work!

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox.

Donate

Help us find your chapter

Educators Alliance

FAIR is continuing the Educators Alliance for the 2026-2027 school year to equip PK–12 educators with the knowledge, strategies, and community support they need to foster schools that are more enriching and free from bias for students and educators.

We are at a turning point for education—and with the relaunch of FAIR’s Educators Alliance, we have an opportunity to step beyond polarization and create classrooms rooted in curiosity, dignity, and respect.

Each monthly gathering will open with updates and presentations from FAIR staff, fellows, Chapter Leaders, and occasional guest speakers. Together, we’ll explore strategies for supporting educators, communities, and local chapters—and for advancing positive change at the local, regional, and national levels. Following presentations, participants will have space for open forum discussions to connect, seek advice, and coordinate on pressing issues in their schools. Breakout rooms will be divided into PK-6 and 7-12 grade levels with experienced teachers facilitating those conversations.

Educators will also be invited to contribute to a new FAIR in Education newsletter, showcasing stories, strategies, and resources from across the FAIR network.

Whether you are a teacher, paraprofessional, or administrator, join us as we continue the FAIR Educators Alliance and shape the future of education together.

There are 7 meetings to sign up for down below. Scroll up and down below to see all of the sessions!

Oct 1, 2026 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Every month on the First Thu, until Apr 1, 2027, 1 hr sessions, 7 occurrences

Note: Despite Zoom’s notice down below, FAIR maintains strict confidentiality of contact information provided.

OTI Conference on Political Bias and Mental Health

Earlier this year FAIR announced its collaboration with the Open Therapy Institute read here.

FAIR members are invited to join the Open Therapy Institute‘s Conference on Political Bias and Mental Health, October 9–11, in Washington, DC.

The program features a live podcast recording with Rob Henderson and Erica Komisar, a panel with Sally Satel, and more. 9.25 CE credits available.

Use code OTISPECIALRATE2026 for 50% off. Register here.

We hope to see you in DC!

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

Every year, the U.S. Department of Education is required to remind states and school districts of their legal obligations to parents under two federal laws: the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). This year’s notification, issued August 26, 2026, goes a step beyond a routine reminder. It puts schools on notice about specific practices tied to parental consent and student rights. Here’s what parents, educators, and FAIR members need to know.

FERPA and PPRA are easy to confuse. FERPA governs records and gives parents the right to inspect, review, and seek correction of what a school keeps on file about their child. PPRA, on the other hand, governs data collection and limits what schools can ask students to reveal about themselves, especially on sensitive topics, without parental consent. Both laws have been on the books for decades, but enforcement has historically been uneven.

PPRA requires written parental consent, not just a heads-up, before students are surveyed on sensitive topics like mental health, political or religious beliefs, sexual behavior, or family income. The Department’s letter draws a hard line here: a passive opt-out isn’t sufficient. When an authority figure administers a survey, students rarely feel free to say no, so the responsibility falls on schools to ask parents first, not after the fact.

This matters because a quiet opt-out buried in a handbook is not the same as a parent actively saying yes. Meaningful consent requires transparency up front, not a chance to object later. FAIR has recently updated its opt-out forms to reflect this guidance, giving parents clear and legally grounded tools to understand their rights.

In a notable clarification, the Department states plainly that behavioral and emotional health screeners fall under PPRA’s protected “mental or psychological problems” category. That means schools using these tools, which are increasingly common in classrooms, must secure written parental consent beforehand. This addresses a gray area that has allowed some schools to treat mental health screening as routine, rather than as the sensitive inquiry it is, and provides clear guidelines for parents, educators, and administrators to work together as an educational team for every child.

The notification also addresses a practice FAIR has long been concerned about: schools maintaining separate records and informal files outside a student’s official record, specifically to shield them from parental review. The Department’s position is unambiguous: FERPA does not recognize a distinction between “official” and “unofficial” records. If a school maintains information directly related to a student, it is an education record, and parents have the right to inspect and review it.

Lastly, the Department’s reminder flags continued concern that schools may be limiting parents’ ability to inspect instructional materials, a core PPRA right. Schools are required to make curriculum available for review upon request, and the Department signals this will be an enforcement priority going forward. Districts don’t need a special reason to say yes to a curriculum review request because the right exists regardless of the subject matter or grade level of the student.

It’s easy to assume the Department’s guidance only matters if a parent suspects their school is doing something wrong, but these protections exist for every family, in every district, whether or not anything has gone wrong yet. Knowing what your school can ask your child, what you’re entitled to see, and what “consent” actually has to look like is what makes parents genuine partners in their child’s education. FAIR believes clear consent requirements and open access to records and curriculum benefits families across the political spectrum are a civics and transparency issue, not a partisan one.

This notification is a reminder that the law is already on parents’ side. The challenge has been enforcement and awareness. Knowing what your school is required to disclose only helps if you know the process and have the right tools to use it. FAIR has a template letter you can send to your district requesting written confirmation that it obtains affirmative written consent before any sensitive survey or mental health screener; does not maintain hidden or “unofficial” student records outside your FERPA access rights; and makes curriculum available for parent review on request. Communication with your district now is essential to a productive school year.

Here are a few practical steps every parent can take now:

• Ask for your district’s annual notification. Every district receiving federal funds is required to notify parents of their FERPA and PPRA rights at the start of the school year. If you didn’t receive a notification, ask your school directly where and when it was provided.

• Request a copy of any survey or screener before it’s administered. Confirm whether it touches on any of PPRA’s protected categories.

• Ask how your district defines an “education record.” If the answer is vague, that’s worth following up on.

• Use FAIR’s template letter. Request written confirmation from your district that it obtains affirmative written consent before any sensitive survey or mental health screener is administered, does not maintain hidden or “unofficial” student records outside your FERPA access rights, and makes curricula available for parent review on request.

FAIR will continue to track how states and districts respond to the Department’s guidance via our Chapter Network & FAIR Incident Reporting, support parents seeking to exercise their inspection and consent rights, and advocate for clear and proactive notification policies at the local level.

If your school has denied you access to your child’s records or administered a survey or screening without your written consent, we want to hear from you. Reach out through our Chapter Network or contact us directly at FAIR Incident Reporting.

Work like this — reviewing federal guidance, updating template letters and opt-out forms, and supporting parents through our Chapter Network — depends on FAIR members. If you find this kind of resource useful, please consider making a donation to help us keep producing them.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox

Donate

Help us find your chapter

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

Is Woke Dead… or Just on Pause?

Have we actually turned the corner and are now walking away from Woke policies? What about Critical Race Theory – is it already so institutionalized that we don’t recognize it?

DEI offices are closing. Corporations seem to be abandoning once-mandated initiatives. Universities are retreating from some of their most controversial policies.

It’s hard to believe that a sweeping political movement built on strong, activist ideas would simply vanish overnight, and that Woke-ism, CRT and DEI have suddenly lost their popularity and influence. So, is it true that Woke-ism is over? Or is it possible that the Woke agenda has become less visible while quietly building strength and devising new tactics to reshape our institutions and culture?

This month’s FAIR In Conversation will look beyond headlines and political talking points to examine what has actually changed, and what hasn’t.

Join us for a thoughtful, evidence-based discussion as we ask the questions many are wondering, but few have carefully examined.

Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

I am pleased to announce the launch of FAIR’s California Chapter, spearheaded by Bay Area Chapter leader Sunil Wijeyesekera.

California writes much of the country’s education and civil rights policy before any other state does. Legislation that begins in Sacramento often reappears in Denver, Minneapolis and Springfield within a session or two. This makes FAIR’s presence in California critical to our ongoing efforts to promote a common culture of fairness and equality nationwide.

FAIR is not new to California. We’ve had city-based Chapters in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and they have done good work in their communities. But a Chapter rooted in metropolitan areas can only do so much for members in Fresno, Bakersfield, or Redding. Because many of the challenges our California members face are initiated at the state level, our response should be organized at that level too. FAIR California gives members across the state one place to pool information, share resources, and act together.

Many of you have followed FAIR’s petition opposing the University of California’s proposed admissions mandate, which would have made a high school liberated Ethnic Studies course a prerequisite for entry into the UC system. FAIR joined other organizations in challenging this requirement, and the proposal was stopped.

The UC mandate was, in fact, worse than AB 101, California’s statewide Ethnic Studies requirement, because it would have superseded local control. Districts that had developed their own thoughtful course content would have had to conform to UC’s content standards or watch their graduates lose ground in admissions. Had the mandate passed, FAIR’s Many Stories, One Nation curriculum would have had no realistic path in California.

FAIR’s California Chapter was born out of an event at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, attended by Sunil and other Chapter members. It was there that they met Richard Sander, the UCLA professor who proposed a committee to counter the mandate. FAIR member George Maurer wrote the petition, and two other FAIR members served on the committee that carried it forward. This is precisely why FAIR’s Chapters matter. We put ourselves in the rooms where decisions are made.

Since FAIR’s California Chapter launched last month, the inquiries have not stopped. A radio host in Paso Robles has invited FAIR to discuss Ethnic Studies and what parents should look for in a curriculum. This presents a valuable opportunity to introduce Many Stories, One Nation to listeners on the Central Coast, a part of the state well outside the orbit of FAIR’s Los Angeles and Bay Area Chapters. The California Family Council has invited FAIR to join the statewide parental rights coalition it chairs. We’ve also received outreach from a local branch of Heterodox Academy, a prosecutor concerned about the California Racial Justice Act, a journalist reporting on community-building efforts in Marin County, and the International Foundation for Therapeutic and Counseling Choice.

All of this has happened since the beginning of August, and it highlights the power of our Chapter members to put FAIR on the map for groups that would otherwise have no reason to know we exist.

Our new California Chapter also gives us standing. The state’s legislature frequently introduces bills that run counter to FAIR’s principles and constitutional law. While Sunil has testified against several of them as a private citizen, it will be far more impactful if he and other FAIR members can state: “I represent FAIR, a civil rights organization with approximately 3,500 members in California with members from every corner of the state.”

The California Chapter’s first priority will be its Substack, modeled on FAIR Colorado’s, which has been one of our best examples of building a local presence. The opening articles will cover California legislation, Ethnic Studies, and state-specific parental opt-out templates. The goal is to publish one article per week, and 10 members have already volunteered to write, edit, or review. A monthly chapter Zoom will run alongside the Substack.

The Chapter has added 15 new members and a number of followers in its first weeks, along with its first paid subscribers. If you live in California, we invite you to subscribe to the California Chapter Substack, join the monthly call with members, and consider coming to Sacramento with other FAIR members in the next session. If you’re interested in writing, Sunil would love to hear from you. And if you live elsewhere, you might want to follow along, anyway — because whatever California does, your state may be doing next.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox

Donate

Help us find your chapter

How Colorado and Other States Are Testing Parental Authority, Free Speech, Child Welfare, and Clinical Professions

This will be the first in a two part series intended to highlight new laws that breach our Constitutional rights. Colorado has passed a series of laws that many parents, clinicians, and citizens believe undermine parental authority, chill free speech, place children at risk, and degrade the mental health and medical professions. In this first webinar of the Constitutional Rights Series, four leaders on the front lines will examine how these policies are playing out in real time—and what is at stake for families and free expression.

Featured speakers:

• State Representative Brandi Bradley will discuss the steady erosion of parental rights in Colorado and the legislation she has championed to restore them.

• Dr. Travis Morrell, Senior Fellow at Do No Harm, sees first-hand how bad medicine morphs into laws that impinge on civil rights.

• Dr. Eddie Waldrep, clinical psychologist, will address how therapists are increasingly pressured into self-censorship and why the practice of therapy itself is at risk.

• Erin Lee, co-founder of Protect Kids Colorado, will outline three ballot initiatives appearing before Colorado voters this November that offer a direct opportunity to strengthen protections for children’s well-being.

Join us for a clear-eyed look at the legislative landscape and the concrete paths still available to defend the rights of all Coloradans and Americans as we use one state as a case study of what to do when the state and federal laws conflict with each other.

Date: September 15, 2026

Time: 7:00 EST

Register Here

Practical Paths for Citizens Defending their Constitutional Rights

When state statutes clash with the U.S. Constitution and federal law, ordinary citizens are left asking a practical question: What can we actually do? This second webinar in the Constitutional Rights Series moves from diagnosis to action, examining both the legal roots of the problem and the lawful tools available to protect individual rights.

Featured speakers:

• James Kerwin of the Center for Individual Rights will explain how Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act has become the legal foundation for recent laws that elevate group identity over individual rights and free speech.

• Leigh Ann O’Neill of America First Policy Institute will walk through concrete, practical steps citizens can take to safeguard their constitutional protections when state policy conflicts with higher law.

• Monica Harris

This session is designed for parents, professionals, and engaged Coloradans and all Americans who want clarity on the legal terrain and realistic next steps for defending their rights.

Date: September 17, 2026

Time: 7:00 EST

Register Here

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

Is Woke Dead… or Just on Pause?

Have we actually turned the corner and are now walking away from Woke policies? What about Critical Race Theory – is it already so institutionalized that we don’t recognize it?

DEI offices are closing. Corporations seem to be abandoning once-mandated initiatives. Universities are retreating from some of their most controversial policies.

It’s hard to believe that a sweeping political movement built on strong, activist ideas would simply vanish overnight, and that Woke-ism, CRT and DEI have suddenly lost their popularity and influence. So, is it true that Woke-ism is over? Or is it possible that the Woke agenda has become less visible while quietly building strength and devising new tactics to reshape our institutions and culture?

This month’s FAIR In Conversation will look beyond headlines and political talking points to examine what has actually changed, and what hasn’t.

Join us for a thoughtful, evidence-based discussion as we ask the questions many are wondering, but few have carefully examined.

Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

FAIR has submitted a comprehensive comment letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) supporting its investigation into The Walt Disney Company for potential unlawful employment discrimination practices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

In March, the FCC opened a public docket following evidence that Disney has systematically prioritized demographic characteristics over individual merit in hiring, promotion, and content decisions. FAIR argues that Disney’s practices violate both federal civil rights law and the FCC’s public interest standards for broadcast licensees.

FAIR’s letter addresses two interconnected problems. First, Disney’s explicit racial and gender targeting in recruitment, measurable demographic quotas in hiring and promotion, and performance evaluations tied to “diversity metrics” constitute unlawful employment discrimination. The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard made clear that using race as a factor in decision-making, even with good intentions, violates equal protection principles.

The individuals harmed are clear: those denied opportunities because they don’t fit demographic targets, and those hired partly on the basis of race or sex rather than qualifications. But the harm extends beyond individual employees. When advancement is conditioned partly on demographic representation, the workplace message is inescapable: merit is secondary to identity.

Second, and equally important, Disney’s DEI infrastructure threatens editorial independence. The FCC has long recognized that broadcast licenses carry a “public trustee” obligation. Licensees must serve the public interest, which includes ensuring that a broad spectrum of viewpoints is represented in news, entertainment, and children’s programming.

When hiring, promotion, and content decisions are filtered through DEI metrics, an ideological test replaces editorial judgment. Producers, writers, and on-air talent are selected not solely based on talent and vision, but in part on demographic alignment and ideological conformity with the company’s stated commitments. The result is narrower, not broader, viewpoint diversity, particularly around issues of identity, equity, and race.

FAIR’s filing argues that this isn’t simply an internal corporate matter. Disney holds broadcast licenses for ABC and affiliated stations granted by the FCC in trust for the public. Those licenses require compliance with federal civil rights law and service in the public interest.

If the FCC investigation finds violations, the consequences can and should extend beyond Disney. FAIR’s filing calls on the FCC to use this investigation as a clear signal to all broadcasters that employment discrimination and ideological conformity, even when framed as diversity and inclusion, will be subject to enforcement action.

When large corporations condition employment on demographic conformity and use that conformity to shape what millions of Americans see and hear, they narrow the marketplace of ideas and institutionalize orthodoxy while claiming to advance inclusion.

FAIR has always believed that civil rights law protects everyone — not as a function of demographic category, but as a matter of principle. That principle is now being tested in the FCC docket. The Commission’s response will signal whether equal protection means what it says, and whether viewpoint diversity is something the FCC actually intends to protect.

Holding major institutions accountable to equal protection law requires resources — legal expertise, strategic filing, sustained pressure. If you share FAIR’s commitment to equal protection for all, please consider making a gift today to help us sustain this fight.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox

Donate

Other Ways to Give

How Colorado and Other States Are Testing Parental Authority, Free Speech, Child Welfare, and Clinical Professions

This will be the first in a two part series intended to highlight new laws that breach our Constitutional rights. Colorado has passed a series of laws that many parents, clinicians, and citizens believe undermine parental authority, chill free speech, place children at risk, and degrade the mental health and medical professions. In this first webinar of the Constitutional Rights Series, four leaders on the front lines will examine how these policies are playing out in real time—and what is at stake for families and free expression.

Featured speakers:

• State Representative Brandi Bradley will discuss the steady erosion of parental rights in Colorado and the legislation she has championed to restore them.

• Dr. Travis Morrell, Senior Fellow at Do No Harm, sees first-hand how bad medicine morphs into laws that impinge on civil rights.

• Dr. Eddie Waldrep, clinical psychologist, will address how therapists are increasingly pressured into self-censorship and why the practice of therapy itself is at risk.

• Erin Lee, co-founder of Protect Kids Colorado, will outline three ballot initiatives appearing before Colorado voters this November that offer a direct opportunity to strengthen protections for children’s well-being.

Join us for a clear-eyed look at the legislative landscape and the concrete paths still available to defend the rights of all Coloradans and Americans as we use one state as a case study of what to do when the state and federal laws conflict with each other.

Date: September 15, 2026

Time: 7:00 EST

Register Here

Practical Paths for Citizens Defending their Constitutional Rights

When state statutes clash with the U.S. Constitution and federal law, ordinary citizens are left asking a practical question: What can we actually do? This second webinar in the Constitutional Rights Series moves from diagnosis to action, examining both the legal roots of the problem and the lawful tools available to protect individual rights.

Featured speakers:

• James Kerwin of the Center for Individual Rights will explain how Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act has become the legal foundation for recent laws that elevate group identity over individual rights and free speech.

• Leigh Ann O’Neill of America First Policy Institute will walk through concrete, practical steps citizens can take to safeguard their constitutional protections when state policy conflicts with higher law.

• Monica Harris

This session is designed for parents, professionals, and engaged Coloradans and all Americans who want clarity on the legal terrain and realistic next steps for defending their rights.

Date: September 17, 2026

Time: 7:00 EST

Register Here

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

Is Woke Dead… or Just on Pause?

Have we actually turned the corner and are now walking away from Woke policies? What about Critical Race Theory – is it already so institutionalized that we don’t recognize it?

DEI offices are closing. Corporations seem to be abandoning once-mandated initiatives. Universities are retreating from some of their most controversial policies.

It’s hard to believe that a sweeping political movement built on strong, activist ideas would simply vanish overnight, and that Woke-ism, CRT and DEI have suddenly lost their popularity and influence. So, is it true that Woke-ism is over? Or is it possible that the Woke agenda has become less visible while quietly building strength and devising new tactics to reshape our institutions and culture?

This month’s FAIR In Conversation will look beyond headlines and political talking points to examine what has actually changed, and what hasn’t.

Join us for a thoughtful, evidence-based discussion as we ask the questions many are wondering, but few have carefully examined.

Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

I’m thrilled to announce Karen Howes as Interim Director of FAIR in the Arts, stepping into the role following Brent Morden’s departure. Brent gave this department its shape and gathered the first community of artists around it, and much of what Karen inherits exists because he built it. We’re grateful for that foundation and energized by her vision for what comes next.

Karen is no stranger to the FAIR in the Arts community. She serves as Co-Leader for FAIR’s Tennessee Chapter, has built and sustained FAIR’s writers’ groups, and has been a driving force behind FAIR in Conversation. Anyone who has joined one of those gatherings knows that Karen brings genuine curiosity about other artists’ work and has a rare talent for making a group of fiercely independent creatives feel like they belong to something bigger and more meaningful.

She has spent more than three decades as a playwright, teacher, and builder of arts institutions. An award-winning writer with more than 30 plays produced across the country, Karen has received the Maxim Mazumdar New Play Award, the Bennett Prize for comedy, and a Susan Smith Blackburn nomination. She has taught more than 50 undergraduate and graduate courses, founded Atlanta’s Young Actors Ensemble and Pierian Springs Academy, and holds an MFA from UC Riverside.

Karen comes to this role with a clear diagnosis of the persistent problem in the arts and years of relationships to draw on in addressing it. Artists who value free expression and viewpoint diversity have spent more than a decade discovering how few doors will open to them. Grant funding, prize committees, and programming decisions are shaped by a narrow set of assumptions about what art is for and who is permitted to make it. As a result, many talented people find themselves working in isolation, each of them convinced they’re the only one who sees, or is impacted by, intolerance and groupthink in the arts.

But they aren’t alone, and Karen is committed to ensuring artists know this.

FAIR in the Arts has consistently emphasized that politics is downstream from culture. If we hope to move this country away from identity politics and toward individual dignity, curiosity, and open inquiry, the arts will be instrumental in making this shift. Our community of artists is one of the features that most distinguishes FAIR from other organizations working in this space, and under Karen’s leadership I believe it can become one of our defining initiatives.

Her first priority will be to strengthen communication among the artists already in FAIR’s orbit so our members know each other’s names and their work. Her second will be outreach to artists who share our values but have never heard of FAIR and aren’t aware that there is a home here for them. Her third will be laying the foundation for the department’s long-term growth, so FAIR in the Arts can do more to serve artists tomorrow than it does today.

Karen described the challenge this way:

“Artists, and writers especially, seem to embody two seemingly opposing instincts: we are fiercely independent, typically working alone, yet we also value and need connection, friendship, and a community of people who understand what we are trying to create. One of my primary goals as we re-infuse FAIR in the Arts with energy and purpose is to find meaningful ways for our artists to support one another, champion one another’s work, and bring more artists into the fold.”

Karen is already weighing a range of ideas, some her own and some proposed by FAIR artists and past artist grant recipients. One example: a regular roundup of our artists’ new books, album releases, exhibitions, performances, and screenings, so members can find and champion one another’s work. If you are an artist — whether a writer, a musician, a painter, a filmmaker, an actor, a dancer, a designer, or a poet — and you have been quietly grateful that FAIR exists without ever raising your hand, this is the moment to raise it. Karen wants to know who you are and what you’re working on. Feel free to introduce yourself to her [<karen.howes@fairforall.org>] and share what you’ve done and what’s coming next. We want our members to know what FAIR artists are making.

Plenty of people lament what has happened to the arts, but Karen has spent years building the relationships that make doing something about it possible. That’s the spirit I want FAIR in the Arts to carry forward, and it’s why I’m confident handing her the reins.

But this isn’t work we can do alone. It only happens because people like you make it possible.

Your gift today helps us transform FAIR in the Arts into a nurturing and invigorating home for artists who believe in free expression, viewpoint diversity, and artistic excellence over ideological conformity. No matter the size, your donation helps us reach the artists who are still working alone.

Thank you for standing behind this work, and please join me in welcoming Karen!

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox

Donate

Other Ways to Give

How Colorado and Other States Are Testing Parental Authority, Free Speech, Child Welfare, and Clinical Professions

This will be the first in a two part series intended to highlight new laws that breach our Constitutional rights. Colorado has passed a series of laws that many parents, clinicians, and citizens believe undermine parental authority, chill free speech, place children at risk, and degrade the mental health and medical professions. In this first webinar of the Constitutional Rights Series, four leaders on the front lines will examine how these policies are playing out in real time—and what is at stake for families and free expression.

Featured speakers:

• State Representative Brandi Bradley will discuss the steady erosion of parental rights in Colorado and the legislation she has championed to restore them.

• Dr. Travis Morrell, Senior Fellow at Do No Harm, sees first-hand how bad medicine morphs into laws that impinge on civil rights.

• Dr. Eddie Waldrep, clinical psychologist, will address how therapists are increasingly pressured into self-censorship and why the practice of therapy itself is at risk.

• Erin Lee, co-founder of Protect Kids Colorado, will outline three ballot initiatives appearing before Colorado voters this November that offer a direct opportunity to strengthen protections for children’s well-being.

Join us for a clear-eyed look at the legislative landscape and the concrete paths still available to defend the rights of all Coloradans and Americans as we use one state as a case study of what to do when the state and federal laws conflict with each other.

Date: September 15, 2026

Time: 7:00 EST

Register Here

Practical Paths for Citizens Defending their Constitutional Rights

When state statutes clash with the U.S. Constitution and federal law, ordinary citizens are left asking a practical question: What can we actually do? This second webinar in the Constitutional Rights Series moves from diagnosis to action, examining both the legal roots of the problem and the lawful tools available to protect individual rights.

Featured speakers:

• James Kerwin of the Center for Individual Rights will explain how Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act has become the legal foundation for recent laws that elevate group identity over individual rights and free speech.

• Leigh Ann O’Neill of America First Policy Institute will walk through concrete, practical steps citizens can take to safeguard their constitutional protections when state policy conflicts with higher law.

• Monica Harris

This session is designed for parents, professionals, and engaged Coloradans and all Americans who want clarity on the legal terrain and realistic next steps for defending their rights.

Date: September 17, 2026

Time: 7:00 EST

Register Here

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

What is the difference between the isms? Socialism, Capitalism, Fascism, Communism…

The United States was founded on a constitutional system that places individual liberty, limited government, and the rule of law at its center. Yet throughout history, competing political philosophies, including socialism and communism, have offered very different answers to fundamental questions about the relationship between the individual, the state, property, equality, and freedom.

How different are these competing visions? Can they coexist within America’s constitutional framework? And what do we actually mean when we use labels like communism, socialism, capitalism, fascism, and democracy?

Whether you believe communism represents a growing influence in American life, think the concern is overstated, or simply want a deeper understanding of the issues, this conversation is designed to encourage thoughtful discussion rather than partisan talking points.

Sessions will be virtual, open to all FAIR members, and designed to be as accessible as they are substantive. You don’t need to have read anything in advance. Just bring your curiosity, your willingness to listen, and your commitment to engage in good faith.

. Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

FAIR is delighted to announce that John Wood Jr. has joined FAIR’s Board of Directors.

John is no stranger to this community. He has served on FAIR’s Board of Advisors, lending his counsel, his platform, and his considerable moral clarity to our work. In stepping into a governing role, he deepens a relationship that has already shaped how we think about our mission.

For those meeting John for the first time: he spent years as National Ambassador for Braver Angels, the nation’s largest cross-partisan bridge-building organization. He is a former Vice-Chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County and a former Congressional nominee. He hosts The John Wood Jr. Show, and his writing on race, faith, politics, and civic life has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Quillette, The Washington Examiner, and elsewhere. He advises The American Project and 1776 Unites, and is a member of the Progress Network and the New Pluralists Collaborative.

What connects all of John’s work is a single, stubborn conviction that he has spent his career defending: that Americans who disagree profoundly can still find common ground, and that the work of proving this is the most urgent civic task of our time. John argues this position with passion and rigor to audiences on both sides of the political and cultural divide, where it is often unwelcome. He epitomizes the disposition FAIR wants in its governance.

John’s appointment to FAIR’s Board arrives at a pivotal moment. He recently left his role at Braver Angels to found The OmniAmerican Society.

The OmniAmerican Society begins as a Substack, but John’s ambition for it is considerably larger. Over the next five years, he intends to build a multimedia network — podcasts, video, journalism, even music production — designed to do two things at once.

The first is narrative. Omni exists to drive a new story of American culture, identity, and politics into the mainstream of our national conversation. In John’s words, the goal is to “redefine the mainstream itself.”

The second is engagement. Omni’s network is meant to serve as a front door, bringing Americans from across the political and cultural spectrum into direct contact with the organizations working to repair our country’s frayed relationships on the ground.

John frames the project with an analogy worth sitting with. A student of the Civil Rights Movement, he observes that the movement operated along two dimensions: method and narrative. The marches, the sit-ins, the boycotts, the freedom rides were the methods; the story of an America transformed and carried by Dr. King into the nation’s aroused conscience was the narrative.

That narrative reached Americans through the new media of its era. Television was still in its infancy in the 1960s, young, but it brought the moral drama of Selma and Birmingham into living rooms across the country. Without it, the aroused conscience of the nation might never have been moved.

Today’s new media are online: podcasts, video channels, and social platforms. John’s argument is that the movement for pluralism and civic repair has built a great deal of method but comparatively little narrative. The vehicle has yet to be built.

This is where we see opportunity.

FAIR has created the method through our chapters in communities across the country, legal advocacy, and a growing body of work in education, including our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum. What we have less of is reach: the ability to place our case before Americans who have never heard of FAIR and have no particular reason to come looking for us.

A venture built to drive attention toward civic repair and an organization built to give people something concrete to do with that attention fit together naturally. Omni can carry the story, and FAIR can offer the on-ramp: a chapter to join, a petition to sign, a curriculum to bring to a school board.

The alignment is clear, the relationship is strong, and the conversation about what we might build together has already begun. We will keep you posted as it develops.

We are grateful that a person of John’s experience and caliber has chosen to invest more deeply in FAIR. Please join us in welcoming him. And we encourage you to follow The OmniAmerican Society on Substack. What John is building deserves an audience, and we would like ours to be part of it.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox

Donate

Other Ways to Give

How Colorado and Other States Are Testing Parental Authority, Free Speech, Child Welfare, and Clinical Professions

This will be the first in a two part series intended to highlight new laws that breach our Constitutional rights. Colorado has passed a series of laws that many parents, clinicians, and citizens believe undermine parental authority, chill free speech, place children at risk, and degrade the mental health and medical professions. In this first webinar of the Constitutional Rights Series, four leaders on the front lines will examine how these policies are playing out in real time—and what is at stake for families and free expression.

Featured speakers:

• State Representative Brandi Bradley will discuss the steady erosion of parental rights in Colorado and the legislation she has championed to restore them.

• Dr. Travis Morrell, Senior Fellow at Do No Harm, sees first-hand how bad medicine morphs into laws that impinge on civil rights.

• Dr. Eddie Waldrep, clinical psychologist, will address how therapists are increasingly pressured into self-censorship and why the practice of therapy itself is at risk.

• Erin Lee, co-founder of Protect Kids Colorado, will outline three ballot initiatives appearing before Colorado voters this November that offer a direct opportunity to strengthen protections for children’s well-being.

Join us for a clear-eyed look at the legislative landscape and the concrete paths still available to defend the rights of all Coloradans and Americans as we use one state as a case study of what to do when the state and federal laws conflict with each other.

Date: September 15, 2026

Time: 7:00 EST

Register Here

Practical Paths for Citizens Defending their Constitutional Rights

When state statutes clash with the U.S. Constitution and federal law, ordinary citizens are left asking a practical question: What can we actually do? This second webinar in the Constitutional Rights Series moves from diagnosis to action, examining both the legal roots of the problem and the lawful tools available to protect individual rights.

Featured speakers:

• James Kerwin of the Center for Individual Rights will explain how Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act has become the legal foundation for recent laws that elevate group identity over individual rights and free speech.

• Leigh Ann O’Neill of America First Policy Institute will walk through concrete, practical steps citizens can take to safeguard their constitutional protections when state policy conflicts with higher law.

• Monica Harris

This session is designed for parents, professionals, and engaged Coloradans and all Americans who want clarity on the legal terrain and realistic next steps for defending their rights.

Date: September 17, 2026

Time: 7:00 EST

Register Here

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

What is the difference between the isms? Socialism, Capitalism, Fascism, Communism…

The United States was founded on a constitutional system that places individual liberty, limited government, and the rule of law at its center. Yet throughout history, competing political philosophies, including socialism and communism, have offered very different answers to fundamental questions about the relationship between the individual, the state, property, equality, and freedom.

How different are these competing visions? Can they coexist within America’s constitutional framework? And what do we actually mean when we use labels like communism, socialism, capitalism, fascism, and democracy?

Whether you believe communism represents a growing influence in American life, think the concern is overstated, or simply want a deeper understanding of the issues, this conversation is designed to encourage thoughtful discussion rather than partisan talking points.

Sessions will be virtual, open to all FAIR members, and designed to be as accessible as they are substantive. You don’t need to have read anything in advance. Just bring your curiosity, your willingness to listen, and your commitment to engage in good faith.

. Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

Every August, parents around the country wrestle with the same question: “I read something in my child’s handbook that doesn’t seem right. What am I supposed to do about it?”

Parents have the instinct that something doesn’t feel right, but they often lack the language that helps them articulate their concerns or the confidence that expressing them is worth the trouble.

FAIR has the language, and it’s yours to use.

As families gear up for the 2026–27 school year, we’ve updated two of our most-requested templates. Both are grounded in current federal law, and both are written to be sent by an ordinary parent, not a lawyer.

The Title IX template

The legal landscape has changed, yet many districts have not kept pace.

In 2024, the Department of Education issued a Title IX Final Rule expanding the statute beyond sex to include gender identity. On January 9, 2025, a federal court vacated that rule in State of Tennessee v. Cardona. As a result, no rule expanding Title IX to gender identity is legally enforceable anywhere in the country today. The Department’s Office for Civil Rights has been explicit that Title IX’s requirements control, regardless of state law or athletic association rules.

The Department has also demonstrated that it will enforce the restored framework directly. Its case against Jefferson County Public Schools, Colorado’s second-largest district, escalated from a finding of violation to a formal warning to enforcement action. In July, the district sued the Department rather than revise its policies.

Our template asks districts to proactively review their policies on restrooms, locker rooms, overnight accommodations, and athletics. Districts with the foresight to adjust their policies now can maintain control over how and when they communicate with families. Districts that wait for a complaint risk facing a ten-day compliance order and public backlash in the middle of a crisis.

You can download the template here.

The Pronoun Policy template

On November 6, 2025, the full Sixth Circuit, sitting en banc, ruled in Defending Education v. Olentangy Local School District that a public school district could not discipline students for declining to use a classmate’s preferred pronouns. The court held the policy amounted to viewpoint discrimination and compelled speech under the First Amendment, finding no evidence the speech would materially disrupt the classroom.

The ruling follows a line running back to West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, where in 1943 the Supreme Court held that schoolchildren could not be forced to salute the flag. As Justice Jackson wrote: “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox.”

Our letter, available for download here, guides a district through the Olentangy ruling and asks it to review any policy that compels pronoun use, whether directly or through the threat of discipline under an anti-harassment rule.

These templates are fully editable and allow you to:

• Raise a specific concern in writing, with the case law already cited for you

• Ask your district to act on its own schedule, rather than under federal pressure

• Create a written record in case you ever need one

All you need to do is add your district’s name, list the policies that concern you, sign the letter, and cc the school board.

To be clear, these templates do not ask schools to be unkind to any student, nor do they demand that any child be excluded, ignored, or made to feel unsafe. Every student deserves dignity, and a school that cannot extend that to all of its students has failed at something more fundamental than policy.

These letters present a straightforward request that should be uncontroversial: public schools must follow federal law and ensure that no student is compelled to affirm a belief they do not hold. Those twin commitments protect every child in the building, including the children whom a given policy was intended to help.

In our experience, a calm, well-sourced letter from a parent who has done their own research is one of the most effective tools a family has.

Maintaining these legal resources requires time and effort. Every FAIR template is researched, drafted, and reviewed before it’s published, then revised each time a court moves the ground underneath it. We provide them because we believe a parent’s ability to advocate for their child should never depend on whether they can afford an attorney, and the families who most need these letters are rarely the families who can hire one.

If these templates are useful to you, please consider making a donation today to help us keep these resources freely available to every family who needs them.

Thank you for standing with us.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox

Donate

Other Ways to Give

How Colorado and Other States Are Testing Parental Authority, Free Speech, Child Welfare, and Clinical Professions

This will be the first in a two part series intended to highlight new laws that breach our Constitutional rights. Colorado has passed a series of laws that many parents, clinicians, and citizens believe undermine parental authority, chill free speech, place children at risk, and degrade the mental health and medical professions. In this first webinar of the Constitutional Rights Series, four leaders on the front lines will examine how these policies are playing out in real time—and what is at stake for families and free expression.

Featured speakers:

• State Representative Brandi Bradley will discuss the steady erosion of parental rights in Colorado and the legislation she has championed to restore them.

• Dr. Travis Morrell, Senior Fellow at Do No Harm, sees first-hand how bad medicine morphs into laws that impinge on civil rights.

• Dr. Eddie Waldrep, clinical psychologist, will address how therapists are increasingly pressured into self-censorship and why the practice of therapy itself is at risk.

• Erin Lee, co-founder of Protect Kids Colorado, will outline three ballot initiatives appearing before Colorado voters this November that offer a direct opportunity to strengthen protections for children’s well-being.

Join us for a clear-eyed look at the legislative landscape and the concrete paths still available to defend the rights of all Coloradans and Americans as we use one state as a case study of what to do when the state and federal laws conflict with each other.

Date: September 15, 2026

Time: 7:00 EST

Register Here

Practical Paths for Citizens Defending their Constitutional Rights

When state statutes clash with the U.S. Constitution and federal law, ordinary citizens are left asking a practical question: What can we actually do? This second webinar in the Constitutional Rights Series moves from diagnosis to action, examining both the legal roots of the problem and the lawful tools available to protect individual rights.

Featured speakers:

• James Kerwin of the Center for Individual Rights will explain how Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act has become the legal foundation for recent laws that elevate group identity over individual rights and free speech.

• Leigh Ann O’Neill of America First Policy Institute will walk through concrete, practical steps citizens can take to safeguard their constitutional protections when state policy conflicts with higher law.

• Monica Harris

This session is designed for parents, professionals, and engaged Coloradans and all Americans who want clarity on the legal terrain and realistic next steps for defending their rights.

Date: September 17, 2026

Time: 7:00 EST

Register Here

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

What is the difference between the isms? Socialism, Capitalism, Fascism, Communism…

The United States was founded on a constitutional system that places individual liberty, limited government, and the rule of law at its center. Yet throughout history, competing political philosophies, including socialism and communism, have offered very different answers to fundamental questions about the relationship between the individual, the state, property, equality, and freedom.

How different are these competing visions? Can they coexist within America’s constitutional framework? And what do we actually mean when we use labels like communism, socialism, capitalism, fascism, and democracy?

Whether you believe communism represents a growing influence in American life, think the concern is overstated, or simply want a deeper understanding of the issues, this conversation is designed to encourage thoughtful discussion rather than partisan talking points.

Sessions will be virtual, open to all FAIR members, and designed to be as accessible as they are substantive. You don’t need to have read anything in advance. Just bring your curiosity, your willingness to listen, and your commitment to engage in good faith.

. Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

This summer, two cases at the center of FAIR’s work finally broke into the national conversation — proof that the work we do quietly doesn’t stay quiet for long.

In 2023, the producers of Broadway’s Wicked teamed up with Maestra Music and Musicians United for Social Equity (MUSE) to offer the “Music Director Experience,” a paid, three-week apprenticeship funded in part by federal grants that flowed from the National Endowment for the Arts to the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). There was just one catch: Maestra’s roster is restricted to women and nonbinary musicians, and MUSE only accepts “people of color.” Kevin Lynch, a FAIR in the Arts member and working music director, applied anyway. His applications to both organizations were denied or left indefinitely pending, effectively locking him out because he’s a white man.

Kevin turned to FAIR for help.

In June 2025, we filed a federal civil rights complaint with the NEA, arguing that Maestra and NYSCA had misused public funds to run a hiring program that excluded people based on race and sex, in violation of Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act. Our complaint asked the NEA to investigate Maestra’s use of federal funds, mandate civil rights training, and ensure people like Kevin can compete for future opportunities on equal terms. The timing lined up with a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which ruled that Title VII applies equally to all individuals, regardless of whether they belong to a majority or minority group.

In June, the story broke wide open. The American Alliance for Equal Rights filed a federal lawsuit on Kevin’s behalf against Wicked, Maestra, and MUSE building on the same facts FAIR’s complaint had identified. The New York Post picked up the story, and coverage quickly spread as the Washington Free Beacon and The Broadway Maven both weighed in. A complaint FAIR filed quietly a year ago is now part of a national conversation about who gets to compete for opportunities funded by federal tax dollars.

On the other coast, FAIR has been in federal court since October 2024 in FAIR v. Walker, a lawsuit filed alongside Pacific Legal Foundation. The litigation challenges Washington State’s Covenant Homeownership Program, which offers zero-interest secondary mortgage loans to first-time homebuyers who meet certain income, residency requirements, and race requirements.

The program is open to homebuyers who are Black, Hispanic, Native American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Korean, or Indian. Homebuyers of Japanese, Jewish, or European descent don’t qualify, even if they meet income and residency requirements. FAIR argues that the program violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection and has asked the court to declare the race-based eligibility criteria unconstitutional, issue a permanent injunction, and enforce race-neutral eligibility criteria in its Program.

In March, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development opened an investigation into the program, directing the Washington State Housing Finance Commission to preserve records and signaling that findings could be referred to the Department of Justice. Then, in June, the story landed in The New York Times. As I told their reporter a few weeks earlier, Washington’s program sets a dangerous precedent because if discrimination “is selectively used to advance the needs of one group, then it can be selectively used to disadvantage another group.”

Neither case is decided yet, but both are proof of something important: when FAIR takes on discrimination, whether it’s embedded in a Broadway apprenticeship or a state-subsidized mortgage program, the fight doesn’t stay quiet for long. Our work draws the scrutiny it takes to hold these programs accountable, long before a judge ever issues a ruling.

We’ll continue to keep you posted as both cases move forward.

None of this happens without your help. Filing federal complaints, building legal cases, and staying in court until they’re resolved takes funding and resources. If you support FAIR’s fight to eliminate discrimination in employment, housing, and beyond, please donate today. Your gift helps us keep fighting cases like these and keep filing the next one before it ever makes headlines.

Thank you for standing with us.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox

Donate

Other Ways to Give

This summer, FAIR’s Film Series will explore these questions through four compelling documentaries produced by Eli Steele and discussions with filmmakers, scholars, and thought leaders.

Join us for this can’t-miss lineup:

🎬 15 Days — August 12 — 69 minute run time then 1 hour discussion

Directed by Natalya Murakhver, co-founder of Restore Childhood, a national nonprofit dedicated to empowering parents in guiding their children's upbringing, education, and health. A longtime advocate for children's welfare, she spearheaded efforts against pandemic-era school closures, co-organizing #KeepNYCSchoolsOpen in 2020 and filing a lawsuit to reopen New York City schools for in-person learning. She launched the #MaskLikeAKid campaign in 2021 and collaborated with global experts in 2022 to establish the Urgency of Normal, advocating for a return to pre-Covid childhood norms. Her directorial debut, "15 DAYS: The Real Story of the Pandemic School Closures," has been viewed more than 1 million times in an exclusive month-long run on X and is now screening around the country, galvanizing parents to reclaim their agency in their children's education and health. Parents can host their own screenings and learn more at 15daysfilm.com.

Date: Wednesday, August 12th

Time: 7pm EST/4pm PST (until about 9:30pm EST)

Register Here

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

What is the difference between the isms? Socialism, Capitalism, Fascism, Communism…

The United States was founded on a constitutional system that places individual liberty, limited government, and the rule of law at its center. Yet throughout history, competing political philosophies, including socialism and communism, have offered very different answers to fundamental questions about the relationship between the individual, the state, property, equality, and freedom.

How different are these competing visions? Can they coexist within America’s constitutional framework? And what do we actually mean when we use labels like communism, socialism, capitalism, fascism, and democracy?

Whether you believe communism represents a growing influence in American life, think the concern is overstated, or simply want a deeper understanding of the issues, this conversation is designed to encourage thoughtful discussion rather than partisan talking points.

Sessions will be virtual, open to all FAIR members, and designed to be as accessible as they are substantive. You don’t need to have read anything in advance. Just bring your curiosity, your willingness to listen, and your commitment to engage in good faith.

. Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

I’m thrilled to announce Dr. Doug Novotny as Interim Director of FAIR in Medicine, stepping into the role following Nikki Johnson’s departure. We are grateful for the foundation Nikki built and energized by Doug’s vision for FAIR in Medicine’s next chapter.

Doug is a licensed clinical psychologist with a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and more than 25 years of experience in clinical practice. He currently serves as Senior Advisor at Open Therapy Institute, where he leads a peer group helping clinicians restore client-centered, evidence-based practice against politicized pressure in the field. Doug brings a rare combination of clinical expertise and moral clarity to this role, skills that are desperately needed as identity politics continues to reshape the teaching and practice of psychotherapy.

Doug comes with a clear diagnosis of the problem in the medical and mental health professions and a track record of doing something about it. For years, licensed practitioners have been subjected to ideologically charged training that sorts patients by identity rather than treating each one as an individual. Indoctrination begins in medical school and extends well into their careers through the Continuing Education (CE) they’re required to complete to keep their licenses. This unwarranted activism insults the intelligence of professionals who are perfectly capable of thinking through, on their own, the best ways to treat their patients.

Doug was inspired to create an alternative: informed consent that’s actually informed, a commitment to first do no harm, and a model for practice that sees the whole patient, not a label. That’s the direction he’s taking FAIR in Medicine, and we’re excited to have him lead it.

Doug’s leadership builds directly on work already underway at FAIR. Since February, FAIR has offered “Culture in Psychotherapy, Without the Corrosion of Identity Politics,” a CE course Doug developed that draws on FAIR Advisor Jonathan Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory, giving clinicians a structural model for their work and restoring moral depth without moralism. The course was offered live in February, March, and April and is still available for those who couldn’t participate. Whether you’re a clinician navigating these pressures or simply someone who cares about keeping psychotherapy grounded in evidence rather than ideology, you’ll benefit from this course.

With Doug helming FAIR in Medicine, we will develop additional CE offerings that reach more clinicians, educators, and others looking for a pro-human alternative to the identity-politics frameworks reshaping their fields. More details on upcoming CE courses and how to get involved are coming soon.

Doug will also continue the work of expanding FAIR’s network of professionals and thought leaders willing to apply pressure to institutions that violate their duties and subject practitioners to cancellation for refusing to submit to groupthink. Under his leadership, FAIR in Medicine will also expand support for Suzannah Alexander’s research into accrediting agencies that pressure educational institutions to indoctrinate students rather than educate them. This is critical work aimed at reforming the incentives at the root of the problem, since accreditation is where much of this damage originates, yet is difficult to see from the outside. Lastly, FAIR in Medicine will endeavor to reach medical students entering the field who lack an understanding of the fundamental principles and ethics of medicine and are best positioned to help us recover them.

FAIR in Medicine isn’t only for physicians and clinicians. It’s for everyone — because sooner or later, all of us are patients. Confidence in the medical field has plummeted over the past several years, and rebuilding it means giving people tools they can actually use. To that end, Doug will lead the development of toolkits to help patients identify practitioners they can trust.

Plenty of people criticize a broken system. For the past several years, I’ve watched Doug create the infrastructure to offer something better. That’s the spirit I want FAIR in Medicine to carry forward, and it’s why I’m confident in handing him the reins.

But this isn’t work we can do alone. It only happens because people like you make it possible.

Your gift today helps us do all of this: grow FAIR in Medicine’s CE series under Doug’s leadership, deepen our support for Suzannah Alexander’s accreditation reform work, build the network of professionals standing up for their colleagues, and put trustworthy-practitioner tools directly into patients’ hands.

No matter the size, your donation will help FAIR restore confidence in medicine.

Thank you for standing behind this work, and please join me in welcoming Doug!

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox

This summer, FAIR’s Film Series will explore these questions through four compelling documentaries produced by Eli Steele and discussions with filmmakers, scholars, and thought leaders.

Join us for this can’t-miss lineup:

🎬 15 Days — August 12 — 69 minute run time then 1 hour discussion

Directed by Natalya Murakhver, a New York City mother who sued to reopen schools during the COVID pandemic. The film investigates why America’s closures lasted longer than nearly every other nation and examines the science, policy decisions, and human costs ignored along the way.

Date: Wednesday, August 12th

Time: 7pm EST/4pm PST (until about 9:30pm EST)

Register Here

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

Defining & Understanding the “Isms”
What do we actually mean when we say capitalism, fascism, socialism/democratic socialism, communism or any of the other “isms”? In a culture where these words are used constantly and often imprecisely, clarity matters.

Join us for an open, rigorous conversation as we examine the definitions, histories, and real-world applications of some of the major “isms.”

Sessions will be virtual, open to all FAIR members, and designed to be as accessible as they are substantive. You don’t need to have read anything in advance. Just bring your curiosity, your willingness to listen, and your commitment to engage in good faith.

. Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

This summer, FAIR attended two important education conferences: the School Boards for Academic Excellence (SBAE) Summer Conference in Charleston and the Utah Rural Schools Association (URSA) Summer Conference in Cedar City. The feedback we received from educators and administrators has been incredibly energizing and provides valuable guidance for our work going forward.

In June, FAIR Executive Director Monica Harris attended the SBAE Summer Conference in Charleston, South Carolina, an event bringing together school board members and education leaders who are navigating complex curriculum adoption decisions. What emerged was both clarifying and inspiring.

Too often, the narrative around school boards centers on disengagement or powerlessness, but SBAE painted a different picture. The board members Monica met were deeply invested in their communities, genuinely committed to finding non-polarizing alternatives to liberated Ethnic Studies, and motivated to make meaningful curriculum decisions. Many were eager to continue the conversation post-conference and discuss adoption possibilities immediately. One attendee from Georgia, whose district has struggled with polarizing curricula, became emotional describing the relief she felt upon learning about Many Stories, One Nation. It was truly a moment that captures why FAIR’s work matters and can make a difference in so many communities.

These conversations confirmed what we at FAIR have long suspected: education leaders want a curriculum that won’t create controversy and won’t sanitize history. They want assurance that their investment in rigorous instruction won’t invite backlash. Many Stories, One Nation answers those questions by teaching difficult history through civil discourse methodology while maintaining academic rigor without ideological polarization.

This month, Jefferson Shupe, Aly Shupe, and Gabe Brown represented FAIR at the URSA Summer Conference in Cedar City. The conversations there revealed another critical insight: adoption pathways are multiple and creative.

Chuck Woodhouse, who teaches on an Indian reservation, asked how Many Stories, One Nation treats Native American history. When Jefferson handed him Chief John Ross’s letter and showed how it connects to the Declaration of Independence, Woodhouse’s immediate response reflected what educators across the country are discovering: this curriculum is exactly what they need. Three high school history teachers realized they could integrate Many Stories, One Nation into existing courses rather than adopting an entirely new curriculum. For rural districts with limited resources, this adaptation model may prove just as powerful as standalone adoption.

What both conferences revealed is how adoption happens in practice: through relationships with decision-makers, through educator-to-educator conversations about real constraints and creative solutions, and through board members like those in Charleston who are ready to lead their communities toward more complete American history.

We’re so grateful for everyone who represented FAIR this summer, and so energized by the momentum we’re building across the country!

With gratitude,

The FAIR Team

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, the nation is still wrestling with some of its oldest questions: Who belongs? What does equality require? How should we understand our differences?

This summer, FAIR’s Film Series will explore these questions through four compelling documentaries produced by Eli Steele and discussions with filmmakers, scholars, and thought leaders.

Join us for this can’t-miss lineup:

🎬 Killing America — July 29 — 38 min run time + discussion featuring Dr. Diana Blum and Eli Steele

🎬 15 Days — August 12

Register Here

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

What does it mean to have “rights”?

The foundational claim upon which our Declaration of Independence and thus our Constitution and The Bill of Rights are based is the radical belief that individuals possess rights that are inalienable and independent of government.

Our goal is to have an intellectually rigorous and inspirational conversation that aligns with FAIR’s emphasis on open inquiry and civil discourse.

FAIR in Conversation has relaunched with a new monthly format built for this moment.

Sessions will be virtual, open to all FAIR members, and designed to be as accessible as they are substantive. You don’t need to have read anything in advance. Just bring your curiosity, your willingness to listen, and your commitment to engage in good faith.

. Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

Three years ago this week, on July 13, 2023, FAIR Chapter leader Richard Bilkszto took his own life.

A retired Toronto principal, Richard spent his career championing the students who needed the most support: the ones who were bullied and overlooked, the kids who didn’t fit the mold. He could have spent his retirement on the beaches he loved. Instead, he kept showing up for the causes he believed in. Richard was a public servant who believed fairness and academic merit weren’t in conflict with one another — and he paid an enormous price for saying so out loud.

Richard’s death followed a diversity training session in which he was publicly accused of racism for voicing a disagreement while the administrators around him stayed silent. The story became international news, cited widely in debates over how DEI programs are run and who they’re allowed to hold accountable. But before he was a headline, Richard was a colleague, a friend, and to many of us at FAIR he was proof that one person’s willingness to speak plainly could move an entire conversation forward.

This week, our Substack published a tribute to Richard by Natasha Willowdale, a friend and fellow educator who worked alongside him on the issues he cared about most. It’s a personal, unflinching piece about grief, about regret, and about the fight over merit-based admissions to specialized school programs that Richard was in the middle of when he died.

Natasha’s tribute also carries a piece of good news that Richard unfortunately didn’t live to see: after three years of advocacy from groups like Friends of Richard Bilkszto and Save Our Schools Ontario, the lottery-based admissions policy that replaced merit-based entry has been revoked. Starting this school year, students will be admitted through a centralized evaluation. It’s not a perfect system, as Natasha acknowledges, but it’s a meaningful step toward the standards Richard fought for.

And that’s the part of this story that belongs to all of us now: not just mourning what happened to Richard, but continuing the work he started. FAIR exists because people like him were willing to speak plainly when too many people around them weren’t. Honoring him means refusing to look away from that discomfort when it’s our turn to speak up.

One reader’s poignant comment on Natasha’s tribute resonated with us. Tom Dearie, who knew Richard only briefly, observed that news of his death was “framed into a cynical narrative that overlooked the human side of his story.” That’s the risk when any tragedy becomes a symbol: the individual gets lost inside it. We don’t want to make the same mistake.

Richard was not a talking point. He was a principal who stayed late to help the kids other adults had given up on, and a man whose family and community are still living with the aftermath of his tragic death three years later.

We’ll leave you with the sentiment that Natasha’s piece closes on: Richard would be glad to know that his work wasn’t in vain, and that the work he was committed to doing is now bearing fruit.

Rest in peace, Richard. You are missed.

If you’d like to support the organizations carrying this work forward, visit Friends of Richard Bilkszto or Save Our Schools Ontario.

If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988 in the US) and Talk Suicide Canada (1-833-456-4566) are available 24/7.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox

This July, FAIR will join educators from across Utah at the Utah Rural Schools Association Conference to explore how Many Stories, One Nation can support rural classrooms and strengthen civic education.

Conference Link

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, the nation is still wrestling with some of its oldest questions: Who belongs? What does equality require? How should we understand our differences?

This summer, FAIR’s Film Series will explore these questions through four compelling documentaries produced by Eli Steele and discussions with filmmakers, scholars, and thought leaders.

Join us for this can’t-miss lineup:

🎬 Killing America — July 29 — 38 min run time + discussion featuring Dr. Diana Blum and Eli Steele

🎬 15 Days — August 12

Register Here

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

What does it mean to have “rights”?

The foundational claim upon which our Declaration of Independence and thus our Constitution and The Bill of Rights are based is the radical belief that individuals possess rights that are inalienable and independent of government.

Our goal is to have an intellectually rigorous and inspirational conversation that aligns with FAIR’s emphasis on open inquiry and civil discourse.

FAIR in Conversation has relaunched with a new monthly format built for this moment.

Sessions will be virtual, open to all FAIR members, and designed to be as accessible as they are substantive. You don’t need to have read anything in advance. Just bring your curiosity, your willingness to listen, and your commitment to engage in good faith.

. Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

We’re excited to announce that FAIR will attend the Utah Rural Schools Association (URSA) Summer Conference in Cedar City, Utah on July 15-17. This conference brings together educators and administrators from rural districts across Utah, serving every grade level, who are dedicated to improving student outcomes and strengthening their curricula. URSA provides hands-on and break-out sessions focused on mental and behavioral health supports, literacy best practices, grading practices, and building a culture of investment. For FAIR, the event will be an important opportunity to introduce Many Stories, One Nation to educators and administrators who understand the unique challenges and strengths of rural schools.

FAIR is bringing a dynamic team to Cedar City: Jefferson Shupe, a veteran FAIR Utah Chapter Leader; Aly Shupe, FAIR’s Social Media Coordinator; and Gabe Brown, creator of FAIR’s educational reels and shorts.

Utah holds particular significance as FAIR expands its work in the West. Rural communities have their own complex narratives — stories of settlement, immigration, indigenous presence, and agricultural heritage — that deserve thorough, multi-perspective exploration in classrooms. Yet the needs of rural schools are often overlooked in curriculum development conversations. Many districts lack access to rigorous, comprehensive resources that reflect their history and distinct experiences. That’s where Many Stories, One Nation comes in.

The URSA conference theme, “Teaching and Reaching Every Student,” aligns perfectly with FAIR’s work. Rural educators are deeply committed to understanding their students’ needs and building curricula that serve them well — and Many Stories, One Nation embodies that commitment: it equips students to think critically about competing perspectives and engage with an increasingly complex society.

What makes FAIR’s curriculum ideal for rural districts is a framework that gives students a better understanding of America’s broader story. Students learn how and why different groups experienced the same historical moments in fundamentally different ways, while grounding that understanding in the values and heritage of their own communities. FAIR’s curriculum is academically robust without being ideologically polarizing, meeting students where they are and equipping educators with material that honors both national complexity and local identity.

FAIR’s team will share lesson materials and demonstrate to education leaders what Many Stories, One Nation looks like in action and how it can serve students, teachers, and rural communities navigating Ethnic Studies adoption. We’ll also document the conference on social media to share insights with FAIR’s community.

The conversations we have in Cedar City next week will help us understand how to better support these districts in bringing a fuller American story to their classrooms. We look forward to connecting with Utah educators and administrators and showing them what’s possible when a curriculum grounded in academic integrity meets communities that are committed to every student’s success. Stay tuned–we’ll share what we learn from these conversations in our next update!

Join us.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

Subscribe now to receive FAIR News weekly in your Inbox

This July, FAIR will join educators from across Utah at the Utah Rural Schools Association Conference to explore how Many Stories, One Nation can support rural classrooms and strengthen civic education.

Conference Link

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, the nation is still wrestling with some of its oldest questions: Who belongs? What does equality require? How should we understand our differences?

This summer, FAIR’s Film Series will explore these questions through four compelling documentaries produced by Eli Steele and discussions with filmmakers, scholars, and thought leaders.

Join us for this can’t-miss lineup:

🎬 What Killed Michael Brown? — July 15 — 110 min run time + 30 min discussion

🎬 Killing America — July 29 — 38 min run time + discussion featuring Dr. Diana Blum and Eli Steele

🎬 15 Days — August 12

Register Here

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

What does it mean to have “rights”?

The foundational claim upon which our Declaration of Independence and thus our Constitution and The Bill of Rights are based is the radical belief that individuals possess rights that are inalienable and independent of government.

Our goal is to have an intellectually rigorous and inspirational conversation that aligns with FAIR’s emphasis on open inquiry and civil discourse.

FAIR in Conversation has relaunched with a new monthly format built for this moment.

Sessions will be virtual, open to all FAIR members, and designed to be as accessible as they are substantive. You don’t need to have read anything in advance. Just bring your curiosity, your willingness to listen, and your commitment to engage in good faith.

. Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

I was a kid when America celebrated its bicentennial anniversary. I don’t remember much about what was happening in the country at the time, but I remember the feeling: parades, red-white-and-blue everything, collector’s items everywhere, and a sense that the whole country had agreed on what we were celebrating. It was simple. We had made it 200 years, America was doing well, and that seemed worth being proud of. Nobody felt compelled to qualify their pride or patriotism with an asterisk or explanation.

This year feels different, and I don’t think I’m the only one who feels it. We’re marking 250 years as a country still fighting a war, still sorting out how much division we can absorb before it becomes something worse, still trying to figure out what AI, social media, and a fast-changing economy are going to do to the way we live and work. A lot of people who love this country, who have given real parts of their lives to it, are feeling something more complicated than pride this year. Conflicted might be the better word. Even people deeply invested in America’s future are struggling to say, in one clean sentence, what this milestone means to them.

Our constitutional inheritance was never a finished project handed to us so we could admire it from a distance. It was built by people who often disagreed with each other, sometimes bitterly, and kept working anyway. They understood that America would only survive if each generation was willing to look honestly at where we stood and recommit to the work. Our country wasn’t built on consensus, but by people who realized the value of holding genuine disagreements and committed to staying at the table regardless. That’s the part of the founding story that tends to get lost or smoothed over during celebrations.

Our country is fifty years older than it was the last time we celebrated. If America were a person, it would be more experienced, but not always wiser for it. Being part of this moment requires us to step up and examine our history honestly — the parts we’re proud of and the parts we’re still wrestling with — without collapsing into either uncritical celebration or blanket cynicism. To honor America’s 250th anniversary, we need to do the hard work of showing up for the arguments like our Founders did instead of walking away from them. It means extending patience to neighbors who see the country differently than we do. That’s a lot harder than showing up for a parade or watching fireworks explode in the sky, but it’s a more fitting tribute to the grand experiment our founders built.

So what does this look like in practice? Here’s one small, concrete place to start: go back to the sources. Not a summary of America’s history, but the actual record of how our country has evolved and understood itself over time. Because history examined through primary resources is often more complicated and more interesting than the version we read secondhand through the lenses of other people.

Our own Many Stories, One Nation curriculum was built on a similar premise: that understanding this country and what it represents means being able to hold multiple, sometimes competing, true stories about it at the same time, rather than flattening our history into a single narrative in either direction.

Our friends at FAIR in Libraries and the Association of Library Professionals just released three reading lists (elementary, middle & high school, and adult) for America’s 250th, built by librarians who care about the same free and open discourse our founders cherished. These lists are a good way to spend part of your holiday weekend, and worth passing along to a librarian in your life who isn’t yet an ALP member.

If you’re not already a member of these communities, this is a good week to change that: join FAIR in Libraries or ALP. Their membership drive closes July 11th, and it’s a small, direct way to support the people doing the quiet work of keeping libraries places for open inquiry rather than ideological battlegrounds.

None of this resolves the tensions our nation is grappling with, and it’s not supposed to. But learning our own history honestly and supporting the people and institutions that help others do the same feels like a fitting way to meet a complicated anniversary. This year, honor America with more than a parade. Honor the actual work this anniversary celebrates.

We don’t get another 250th. Let’s do this one right.

Join us.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

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As America approaches its 250th anniversary, the nation is still wrestling with some of its oldest questions: Who belongs? What does equality require? How should we understand our differences?

This summer, FAIR’s Film Series will explore these questions through four compelling documentaries produced by Eli Steele and discussions with filmmakers, scholars, and thought leaders.

Join us for this can’t-miss lineup:

🎬 How Jack Became Black — July 1

🎬 What Killed Michael Brown? — July 15

🎬 Killing America — July 29

🎬 15 Days — August 12

Register Here

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

FAIR in Conversation has relaunched with a new monthly format built for this moment. We’re leaning away from books and into the issues themselves: the debates, decisions, and developments that are defining what fairness, free speech, and equal dignity mean in America, and beyond, right now.

Each session will center on a pressing topic of the day, drawing on a curated mix of articles, book summaries, short essays, podcasts, films, and other multimedia resources to ground the conversation before opening the floor for discussion.

Sessions will be virtual, open to all FAIR members, and designed to be as accessible as they are substantive. You don’t need to have read anything in advance. Just bring your curiosity, your willingness to listen, and your commitment to engage in good faith.

These are exactly the conversations America needs now, and we are committed to modeling them. Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.
  

Dear Friends of FAIR,

This summer, FAIR is launching a four-film series exploring how Americans have debated and constructed racial identity, belonging, and the nation itself. These documentaries ask urgent questions about what we owe one another across differences and how we talk about it.

The series launches July 1st with How Jack Became Black, a documentary that traces the invention of Blackness as a racial category in America. The film examines the roots of colorblindness, the hope that we might one day see people as individuals rather than group members, and shows how that promise collides with lived experience. It’s a fitting opener for a series running alongside the nation’s 250th anniversary, a moment when we’re reckoning with what America is, who belongs to it, and what we’ve promised ourselves about equality and freedom. Monica Harris, FAIR’s Executive Director, will host the discussion with Eli Steele.

July 15th, we screen What Killed Michael Brown?, a sharp, unflinching look at the facts, rhetoric, and storytelling that followed the shooting in Ferguson. The film eschews easy narratives and instead asks viewers to sit with an uncomfortable complexity: the difference between what happened and how it was told.

July 29th, we move to Killing America, a documentary that wades into the historical and contemporary tensions between individual rights and group identity. The film traces how America has wrestled with inclusion, exclusion, and the meaning of membership.

We close our summer series on August 12th with 15 Days, directed by Natalya Murakhver, a New York City mother who sued to reopen schools during the COVID pandemic. The film investigates why America’s closures lasted longer than nearly every other nation and examines the science, policy decisions, and human costs ignored along the way.

Each screening will be followed by a discussion with subject matter experts and scholars who can help audiences think carefully about what these films reveal.

FAIR believes that civil discourse across genuine disagreement is foundational to a free and equal society. The COVID pandemic was one of the most traumatic moments in American history, and race and racial identity remain among the most contested topics in our society. We struggle to discuss these issues clearly. We retreat into defensive positions. We mistake agreement for understanding. We assume bad faith instead of engaging with hard questions.

FAIR believes these topics cannot be discussed and debated on the fringes. They shape education policy, civil rights enforcement, hiring practices, and how young people understand themselves and their country. These films don’t promote a single perspective or conclusion. They present evidence, arguments, and human stories that require viewers to think. They are an invitation to think carefully, together, across lines of difference.

These screenings are open to FAIR newsletter subscribers and community members. Whether you work in education, media, or civil rights advocacy, or simply want to engage with evidence-based analysis and diverse expert perspectives on some of the nation’s most contested questions, this series is for you. Stay tuned for details in our newsletter or follow us on social media for registration information and screening times.

This summer, as we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, our country is reckoning with its founding promises of equal protection, free expression, and belonging. These four films tackle that question from different angles. They model what it looks like to engage seriously, to resist easy narratives, to think together across genuine disagreement. That’s the conversation America needs now.

Join us.

With gratitude,

Monica Harris
Executive Director, FAIR

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, the nation is still wrestling with some of its oldest questions: Who belongs? What does equality require? How should we understand our differences?

This summer, FAIR’s Film Series will explore these questions through four compelling documentaries produced by Eli Steele and discussions with filmmakers, scholars, and thought leaders.

Join us for this can’t-miss lineup:

🎬 How Jack Became Black — July 1

🎬 What Killed Michael Brown? — July 15

🎬 Killing America — July 29

🎬 15 Days — August 12

Register Here

The Canadian Free Speech Crisis with Lisa Bildy

Canada shares our values, our language, and our legal traditions — yet free speech there is under pressure in ways that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. FAIR Advisor Lisa Bildy of the Free Speech Union of Canada will walk us through the landscape: who’s being silenced, who’s pushing back, and the cultural pressures that are reshaping expression north of the border. Join us for a candid look at what’s happening in Canada and why it matters for all of us.

Register Here

FAIR in Conversation is Back!

FAIR in Conversation has relaunched with a new monthly format built for this moment. We’re leaning away from books and into the issues themselves: the debates, decisions, and developments that are defining what fairness, free speech, and equal dignity mean in America, and beyond, right now.

Each session will center on a pressing topic of the day, drawing on a curated mix of articles, book summaries, short essays, podcasts, films, and other multimedia resources to ground the conversation before opening the floor for discussion.

Sessions will be virtual, open to all FAIR members, and designed to be as accessible as they are substantive. You don’t need to have read anything in advance. Just bring your curiosity, your willingness to listen, and your commitment to engage in good faith.

These are exactly the conversations America needs now, and we are committed to modeling them. Sessions will run monthly through September 23rd. We hope you’ll join us!

Register Here

FAIR Educators Alliance 2025-2026

Join the FAIR Educators Alliance for the 2025–2026 school year to equip PK–12 educators with the knowledge, strategies, and community support they need to foster schools that are more enriching and free from bias for students and educators.

Each monthly gathering will open with updates and presentations from FAIR staff, fellows, Chapter Leaders, and occasional guest speakers. Together, we’ll explore strategies to support educators, communities, and local chapters—and to advance positive change at the local, regional, and national levels.

Following the presentations, participants will have space for open-forum discussions to connect, seek advice, and coordinate on pressing issues in their schools. Breakout rooms will be divided into PK-6 and 7-12 grade levels with experienced teachers facilitating those conversations.

Meetings: First Thursday of each month at 7 PM ET via Zoom Duration: 1 hour

Join Us!

Note to readers: We have paused the FAIR News podcast. If you prefer listening, rather than reading these newsletters, an audio version is available directly on the Substack app. Thank you for tuning in!

Join the FAIR Community

• Join us, and become a member of FAIR.

• Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter.

• Sign up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission.

• Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.

• View our Many Stories, One Nation curriculum.