The nation’s leading consumer protection agency has entered the battle between a Nashville college preparatory school and parents who claim Lipscomb Academy has not only gone “woke” but is silencing speech.
In a letter obtained by The Federalist, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson encourages the private school’s leadership to rethink its new code of conduct, which prohibits parents, students, and staff from publicly “disparaging” the school or actions taken by its leadership.
“Families violate confidentiality requirements if they … Publicly speculate or criticize personnel decisions or school matters,” the code of conduct states.
Lipscomb rolled out the new code after The Federalist sought comment on claims from parents about the Christian school’s direction. Academy parents and others have accused Head of School Brad Schultz and other administrators of leading the Church of Christ-affiliated school leftward.
“Reporting indicates that Lipscomb Academy is requiring, through its Code of Conduct, consumers to agree not to, among other things, publicly criticize personnel decisions or school matters,” the FTC’s Ferguson wrote in the letter, obtained from the commission via The Federalist’s request.
“I encourage you to conduct a comprehensive review of your form contracts — including any Code of Conduct — to ensure that they comply with the CRFA,” the chairman advised Schultz in the letter. He copied Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. The AG’s office declined to comment for this story.
CRFA is the Consumer Review Fairness Act, a 2016 law aimed at protecting consumers’ ability to “share their honest opinions about a business’s products, services, or conduct, in any forum, including social media.” The law protects consumers’ First Amendment rights, even consumers who pay private schools to educate their children.
FTC Letter to Lipscomb Academy by The Federalist
Lipscomb is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, but it still provides a pricey service to its customers. This year, the cost to attend the elite pre-K-12 school topped $24,000 per high school student, including a $3,449 nonrefundable enrollment fee.
‘Weaponized Against Parents’
Parents who spoke to The Federalist allege the new policy is meant to silence critics of a private school that has been in the national spotlight over the last year. Last fall, Lipscomb made headlines over the way its high school administrator handled students who attempted to honor slain conservative icon and Christian evangelizer Charlie Kirk.
The code of conduct, also obtained by The Federalist, states that “Negative communication,” spoken or posted, can “cause lasting harm” to the academy and its community members. Therefore, members are barred from using “social media sites or other forms of media to distribute disparaging, defamatory or harassing remarks or media about Lipscomb Academy or other Academy Community Members.”
Publicly criticizing the school can lead to a number of disciplinary actions, including dismissal of students, according to the policy.
Lipscomb Academy Code of Conduct by The Federalist
One parent, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, told The Federalist that the policy is “being weaponized against parents.” That “specific set of parents” has raised concerns about Lipscomb’s educational philosophies and what they assert has been a departure from the Bible-centric education they believed they were paying for.
“As a parent of multiple students at Lipscomb, this new code of conduct policy falls way short of fairness,” the parent said. “It’s a complete overreach of our First Amendment rights of private communications.”
Lipscomb officials, including Schultz, did not return The Federalist’s requests for comment. The school is on spring break this week, so The Federalist extended its deadline for comment, giving administrators nearly a full day to respond.
‘Intentionally Diverse’
The code of conduct was “approved by the Lipscomb Academy Committee of the Lipscomb University Board of Trustees” on Feb. 17, according to the document. It was sent out a week later, Lipscomb parents told The Federalist. Not long after, The Federalist’s story about Lipscomb was published following more than a month of investigation.
Lipscomb officials have vehemently denied allegations that the academy has pushed a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda in recent years.
Several sources, including parents of Lipscomb students and others connected to the Christian academy, claimed Schultz’s higher education views are reflected in a 2013 dissertation he wrote while earning his education doctorate from Georgia Southern University. The dissertation, titled “Intentionally Diverse: A Historical Investigation of a Southern Private School’s Ten-Year Diversity Initiative,” leans heavily on the work of Marxist thinkers such as Paulo Freire, a Brazilian philosopher best known for “Marxifying education.“
The Federalist obtained a copy of the 153-page doctoral study through an open records request. Lipscomb officials refused to release Schultz’s dissertation to The Federalist. They wouldn’t say whether the academy had retained a copy.
After The Federalist started looking into the allegations about the school’s left-leaning turn, Lipscomb’s general counsel sent a letter to Federalist Executive Editor Joy Pullmann warning that “publication of statements known to be false or made with reckless disregard for their accuracy could expose The Federalist to potential liability.”
“Please be advised that Lipscomb Academy is prepared to pursue all appropriate legal remedies should your publication move forward with the dissemination of any false or defamatory information,” wrote Lipscomb Academy General Counsel David G. Wilson.
Lipscomb’s communications director previously told The Federalist that Schultz’s 13-year-old dissertation “does not govern teacher hiring decisions or drive curriculum. … Suggestions to the contrary grossly misrepresent both our practices and our beliefs.”
‘Vigorously Protecting Americans’
Lipscomb community members who spoke to The Federalist said they have watched their Christian school turn increasingly secular. Now, they claim their criticisms are being choked out by an unlawful nondisclosure agreement.
“I think that if I’m Lipscomb I would be immediately revising the code of conduct letter in a major way or just get rid of it altogether,” one parent of a Lipscomb high school student told The Federalist. He, too, asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal.
He claims Lipscomb demanded parents sign the policy just days before the deadline for 2026-27 open enrollment at Nashville-area private schools. He said parents either signed the policy or risked losing out on education opportunities for their children.
In the letter to Schultz, Ferguson advised that the FTC is committed to “vigorously protecting Americans from unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.” That mission, in part, the FTC chairman wrote, is educating “businesses and institutions about their rights and responsibilities, and where necessary, initiat[ing] investigations and enforcement actions.”
“Specifically, the Commission has been tasked with ‘conducting education and outreach that provides businesses with non-binding best practices for compliance with’ the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016,” Ferguson informed Lipscomb’s headmaster.
An agency official declined further comment on the letter.
Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
