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Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

FIRE Update

November 19, 2007

by Newsletter

Table of Contents
November 19, 2007

1. FIRE Comes to University of Delaware Today
2. FIRE to Open N.Y. Satellite Office in 2008
3. Amid Free Speech Scandal, Embattled Valdosta State President Announces Early Retirement
4. Speech Code of the Month: Saginaw Valley State University
5. Recent Media Coverage
6. Recent Posts to The Torch

FIRE COMES TO UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE TODAY

FIRE President Greg Lukianoff will be speaking at the University of Delaware at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon in 120 Smith Hall. He will address the badly misunderstood moral and First Amendment right to freedom of private conscience, the moral and legal issues posed by campus thought-control programs in general, and college students' academic freedom to investigate contentious issues without the imposition of official campus orthodoxy. He will be available during and after the event for further discussion.

FIRE TO OPEN N.Y. SATELLITE OFFICE IN 2008

FIRE is excited to announce that, early next year, we will be opening a small satellite office in New York City. The new office will allow us regular contact with some of our most important supporters and allies, while giving us greater access to the news media capital of the world. While FIRE's headquarters will, of course, remain in Philadelphia, the addition of a New York office is the first crucial step in our plans to increase FIRE's national reach and influence. In order to make our New York office a reality, an enthusiastic anonymous donor has already pledged to match up to $75,000 of individual gifts to help set up the office. (You can find out how to donate to FIRE by clicking here. In order to qualify for the matching gift, just note in the comments of your donation "for the New York office.") Also, those who are interested in working for FIRE should keep checking our employment page, where we will soon be advertising our first New York-specific positions.

AMID FREE SPEECH SCANDAL, EMBATTLED VALDOSTA STATE PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES EARLY RETIREMENT

On November 14, Valdosta State University (VSU) President Ronald M. Zaccari announced that he will be retiring in June 2008, at the end of the 2007-2008 academic year, rather than December 2008, as originally planned. Zaccari's early retirement comes at a time when both Zaccari and VSU are under increasing fire for the unconstitutional expulsion of former VSU student T. Hayden Barnes. Zaccari played a central role in Barnes' expulsion for peacefully protesting Zaccari's plans to spend $30 million of mandatory student fees to construct two parking garages on campus, personally ordering Barnes to be "administratively withdrawn" from campus. Zaccari claimed that Barnes presented a "clear and present danger" to both Zaccari and the VSU campus on the basis of a cut-and-paste collage Barnes had posted on his personal page on popular social networking site Facebook.com. With FIRE's help, Barnes is appealing Zaccari's blatantly unconstitutional actions. A hearing before Georgia's Office of State Administrative Hearings is scheduled for November 26, 2007.

SPEECH CODE OF THE MONTH: SAGINAW VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY

FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for November 2007: Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU). SVSU, a public university in Michigan, maintains a Policy on Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Racial Harassment that prohibits, among other things, "degrading comments or jokes referring to an individual's race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital or familial status, color, height, weight, handicap or disability." "Harassment" is an exacting legal standard; most "degrading comments or jokes" do not even approach this standard and are wholly protected by the First Amendment. The notion that adult college students somehow need to be protected this type of speech is ludicrous.

RECENT MEDIA COVERAGE

The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 16, "U. of Delaware Abandons Sessions on Diversity," by Eric Hoover

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Student Press Law Center, November 15, "Magistrate bars Cal State from enforcing "civility" provision in conduct code," by Moriah Balingit

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Syndicated Column, November 14, "Academic cesspools II," by Walter Williams

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The Daily Collegian, November 14, "PSU free speech comes under 'fire'," by Lauren McCormack

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Canada Free Press, November 10, "Thought control alive and well at University of Delaware," by Tom Deweese

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Commentary Magazine, November 10, "Indoctrination at the University of Delaware," by Michael Lewis

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World Net Daily, November 9, "Students who 'desecrated' terrorist flags vindicated"

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The Daily Pennsylvanian, November 9, "Controversy hits Harker at Delaware," by Rebecca Kaplan

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The Johns Hopkins News-Letter, November 8, "Senate bill deals with 'dangerous' students," by Dylan Diggs

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Philadelphia Bulletin, November 5, "The University of Delaware Suspends Tolerance 'Treatment'," by Joe Murray

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More media coverage at thefire.org »

RECENT POSTS TO THE TORCH

November 19, "Adding Insult to Injury: Valdosta State's Shameful Free Speech Zone," William Creeley

November 16, "FIRE President Greg Lukianoff to Speak at University of Delaware Monday," Adam Kissel

November 16, "More Thought Reform Documents from the University of Delaware," Adam Kissel

November 16, "Hypocrisy and the Harvard Faculty," Azhar Majeed

November 15, "'Guidelines for Classroom Discussion' Still Stifle Free Speech at the University of South Carolina," Luke Sheahan

Read The Torch at thefire.org »

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