Press Release
July 28, 2010
Isaac Rosenbloom is again able to pursue advanced training as a paramedic at Hinds Community College (HCC) now that the school has reversed its punishment against him for swearing a single time outside of class. Rosenbloom, who supports his wife and two young children as an emergency medical technician, was barred from one of his classes and denied financial aid after a professor initiated a verbal confrontation with him over his language. After HCC found Rosenbloom guilty of "flagrant disrespect," he turned to FIRE for help.
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Press Release
July 26, 2010
Nearly three years after terminating her over her protected classroom speech, the San José/Evergreen Community College District (SJCCD) has agreed to pay adjunct professor June Sheldon $100,000 in lost earnings in exchange for dismissal of her First Amendment lawsuit. In 2007, Sheldon had led a brief discussion about the nature/nurture debate regarding sexual orientation in her Human Heredity course. After she was fired due to a student complaint, she turned to FIRE for help.
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The Torch
July 23, 2010
We are proud to announce that FIRE President Greg Lukianoff and Director of Legal and Public Advocacy Will Creeley join a distinguished group of writers discussing free thought and free speech on campus in the April/May issue of Free Inquiry magazine. Their article is titled "Is Campus Censorship the New Normal?" Please pick up a copy of this issue of Free Inquiry at your local bookstore. The article, available in print only, is an enlightening exposition on current trends in censorship on campus and highlights the very real threat collegiate censorship poses to our democracy. Read Full Article
FIRE Update
July 22, 2010
Last weekend, FIRE wrapped up our third annual Campus Freedom Network Conference. Approximately fifty students from across the country congregated at Bryn Mawr College outside of Philadelphia to hear from FIRE's staff and some of the leading advocates for free speech on campus. Dozens of students and community members tuned in on the CFN website and on the CFN's Ustream channel and students and staff engaged in vigorous discussion not only at the conference, but also on Twitter. FIRE looks forward to working with these bright and engaged students to advance liberty on their campuses throughout their higher education careers. Read Full Article
FIRE Update
July 15, 2010
FIRE's Campus Freedom Network conference has an exciting lineup of speakers and topics in store. We will be live streaming the conference starting Friday morning at 9:30 ET. You can watch it from the CFN website or the CFN's Ustream channel. FIRE's staff also will be tweeting from the conference. Tune in and join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #CFN10. Read Full Article
The Torch
July 13, 2010
The University at Buffalo (also known as SUNY Buffalo) is the latest school to revise a policy that was named a FIRE Speech Code of the Month. In January 2009, we highlighted the university's residence hall "Statement of Civility," which provided that "[a]cts of incivility—whether verbal, written, or physical—will not be tolerated by the Residence Life community." Shortly after FIRE's announcement, FIRE supporter Lee Brink wrote a personal e-mail to President John Simpson about the policy. We are pleased that Buffalo has updated the policy to clarify that it is simply "a declaration of the values and beliefs" of the university and "is not intended to and does not provide grounds for disciplinary action against any student of the University." Having made this important revision, Buffalo joins Bryn Mawr College and Westfield State College as schools that have recently revised former Speech Codes of the Month. Read Full Article
