PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
by Newsletter
November 21
Slow Progress Toward Free Speech at Drexel University: Speech Code of the Month Revised, but Concerns Remain
In a positive development for free speech, Drexel University has revised its much-maligned student harassment policy. The policy, which prohibited "the use of derogatory names" as well as "inconsiderate jokes," was named FIRE's Speech Code of the Month back in September 2006. We publicized the policy in the media and on The Torch, and also featured it in our video FIRE on Campus: An Introduction to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. With its revised policy, Drexel no longer receives FIRE's worst, red-light rating for suppressing student speech; it now receives a yellow light. However, Drexel still has some work to do before its policies are truly supportive of free speech on campus: the university still prohibits posting any materials on campus "that may be viewed as demeaning or degrading to a person or group of persons," and its updated harassment policy still contains some fairly ridiculous language. While the new harassment policy does not prohibit protected expression outright—an improvement over the old policy—it provides ridiculous examples of conduct that "might" be considered harassment, such as "suggestive or insulting sounds" and "holding or eating food provocatively." Drexel has without question taken positive steps toward more freedom of speech on campus; we now challenge the university to address its remaining speech codes and to join its neighbor, the University of Pennsylvania, as a green-light institution!
Good News from Georgia: Federal District Court Issues Important First Order in Valdosta State Lawsuit
On Wednesday, District Court Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr. issued his first order in the federal civil rights lawsuit filed by former Valdosta State University (VSU) student Hayden Barnes in January. In a promising development for Barnes—and, more generally, for free speech on campuses across the country—Judge Pannell's order denies five of the seven motions to dismiss filed by the defendants' lawyers, thus allowing the core of Barnes' claims against recently departed VSU President Robert Zaccari and other VSU administrators to proceed. In denying the motions to dismiss, Judge Pannell held that the collage Barnes posted on Facebook.com "deserves constitutional protection under the First Amendment" and that Zaccari and his administration "were on notice and had fair warning that retaliating against [Barnes] for his speech and expression against the proposed construction of the parking garage would violate his constitutional rights." Judge Pannell's order also allows Barnes' claims that VSU and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and breached a contractual agreement with Barnes by failing to observe the university policies to proceed.
Tennessee State Bans JuicyCampus.com Gossip Website
It was only a matter of time before some university decided to ban the gossip website JuicyCampus.com from its network, and now one has: Tennessee State University in Nashville. According to a November 12 letter to the student body from Vice President for Student Affairs Michael A. Freeman, Tennessee State blocked the website from access through campus networks because it "does not fit with the legacy, spirit, and reputation of Tennessee State University." This instance of Internet censorship at one of our nation's public institutions of higher learning is an affront to both the free marketplace of ideas and the First Amendment itself.
Greg Lukianoff and Adam Kissel to Speak at NAS Conference in D.C.
The National Association of Scholars is hosting its thirteenth conference, "The Changing Landscape of American Higher Education," in Washington, D.C., on January 9–11. Greg is participating in the first panel discussion, which examines the contest between the government's regulatory urges and the explosive energy of new information technologies. Adam will also take the podium to discuss FIRE's highly publicized case at the University of Delaware. NAS and FIRE have often worked together, and its mission and goals are in many ways similar to FIRE's. If you are in the D.C. area and want to see FIRE staff in action, register to attend the conference today!
November 21, "Good News from Georgia: Federal District Court Issues Important First Order in Valdosta State Lawsuit," William Creeley
November 21, "Students Interested in Defending Liberty, Join the CFN Today," Luke Sheahan
November 20, "Tennessee State Bans JuicyCampus.com from Network," Robert Shibley
November 20, "Slow Progress Toward Free Speech at Drexel University: Speech Code of the Month Revised, but Concerns Remain," Samantha Harris
November 20, "1,000th Campus Freedom Network Member Will Win Prizes," Brandon Stewart
November 19, "Citing University of Delaware Case, UGA Student Calls For Respect of Students' Rights in Dorm Life," Brandon Stewart
November 19, "Fall 'FIRE Quarterly' Now Available," Erin Osovets
Read The Torch at thefire.org »
Recent Media Coverage
The Red and Black, November 19, "Univ. Housing employs 'curious policies'," by Chris Chiego
The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 14, "Social-work student lands in hot water over posters at Binghamton," by Robin Wilson
Examiner.com, November 10, "Big gun on campus," by Garry Reed
The Brandeis Hoot, November 7, "The Hindley case: Not over yet," by Daniel Ortner
Inside Higher Ed, November 7, "College ends ban on Nietzsche quote," by Scott Jaschik
Temple Daily Telegram, November 6, "TC prof strikes a blow for free speech," by Dan Fearson
College News, November 5, "Students fight for free speech," by Cristina Gonzalez
More media coverage at thefire.org »
Recent Multimedia Content
FIREside Chats, Episode 133: FIRE's Victory at Temple College
FIREside Chats, Episode 132: Greg at the Philadelphia Students for Liberty Conference
More multimedia at thefire.org »
2008
The mission of FIRE is to defend and sustain individual rights at America's colleges and universities.
Speech Code of the Month
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for November 2008: University of the Pacific. The university's policy on Harassment, Coercion, and Discrimination prohibits any conduct "that undermines the emotional, physical, or ethical integrity of any community member." This includes any expression, "intentional or unintentional," that "has the effect of demeaning, ridiculing, defaming, stigmatizing, intimidating, slandering or impeding the work or movement of a person or persons or conduct that supports or parodies the oppression of others." Examples of explicitly prohibited expression include "insults," "jokes," "teasing," and "derogatory comments." The policy is so fraught with attacks on free speech that it is difficult to understand how anyone even remotely aware of the First Amendment allowed it to be implemented. (The University of the Pacific, as a private, secular university in California, is bound by the Leonard Law, which prohibits private institutions from maintaining regulations that at their public counterparts would violate the First Amendment.) In fact, this policy, which openly threatens core political speech, explicitly bans protected speech, and leaves students at the mercy of the most sensitive members of their community, is one of the worst speech codes FIRE has ever seen.
RSS Feed | Multimedia | Speech Code of the Month
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