The Torch
July 3, 2008
As our nation enjoys the holiday weekend and celebrates Independence Day, FIRE is reminded that many colleges and universities continue to disregard the fundamental rights immortalized by the First Amendment and promised in their own materials. The schools that are the worst of the worst when it comes to individual rights on campus get placed on FIRE's Red Alert list—and so far, a total of five schools have earned their spots. To learn more about these schools' violations of student and faculty rights, take a look at our Red Alert list. Let us remember our freedoms this Fourth of July!
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The Torch
July 1, 2008
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for July 2008: Delta State University. Delta State's harassment policy provides that harassment occurs when the work or learning environment "is one that a reasonable person would objectively find hostile or abusive or one that the particular person who is the object of the harassment perceives to be hostile or abusive." (Emphasis added.) Defining harassment on the basis of the perception of the allegedly harassed individual completely eliminates any semblance of objectivity in Delta State's harassment policy. In other words, harassment occurs when either a reasonable or an unreasonable person finds the environment to be hostile. This means that students at Delta State are at the mercy of the most sensitive members of the community—if they feel harassed, they have been harassed, no matter how unreasonable those feelings may be. Delta State's policy stands in stark contrast to applicable First Amendment law, which Delta State—as a public institution—is bound to uphold. Moreover, it is a moral outrage. Under this speech code, students at Delta State must tailor their expression to avoid offending those with the most tender sensibilities, a requirement that undoubtedly has a powerful chilling effect on expression at the university. Delta State's harassment policy undermines the entire purpose of a university, turning it into a place where people walk on eggshells rather than the marketplace of ideas it is supposed to be.
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The Torch
June 30, 2008
Valdosta State University President Ronald M. Zaccari retires today, leaving behind an embarrassing legacy of contempt for his students' constitutional rights to freedom of speech and due process. Under Zaccari, Valdosta State University (VSU) earned the ignominious distinction of being just one of five schools on FIRE's Red Alert list, signifying VSU's status as one of the "worst of the worst" in the nation with regards to liberty on campus. Zaccari secured VSU's spot as the only public university on our Red Alert list by personally ordering the expulsion of student T. Hayden Barnes for engaging in protected political speech―an expulsion that was later overturned by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and is currently the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit. Zaccari also oversaw VSU's blatantly unconstitutional free speech zone, which limits free expression to just one tiny stage on the school's Main Campus comprising less than 1% of the school's total campus acreage. Zaccari's retirement comes six months earlier than he had originally planned. For students wishing to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to free expression at Valdosta State University, however, Zaccari's retirement comes not a day too soon.
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Update: June 27, 2008, Read More About Valdosta State University: Student Expelled for Peacefully Protesting Parking Garages »
Press Release
June 26, 2008
The Chair of Colorado College's (CC's) Board of Trustees has affirmed the school's actions in finding that student Chris Robinson and another student wishing to remain anonymous violated CC's "violence" policy for posting a flyer that parodied a flyer of the Feminist and Gender Studies program. In a letter to FIRE, Board of Trustees Chair David van Diest Skilling wrote that "the College acted correctly in their handling of the students' behavior" and that "there is no need for further action." FIRE continues to call on CC to remove the guilty verdict from the students' files immediately and to stand by its own promises of freedom of expression.
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Update: June 28, 2008, Read More About Colorado College: Students Found Guilty for Satirical Flyer »
The Torch
June 17, 2008
Every month, FIRE selects a college or university with a particularly egregious speech code as our Speech Code of the Month. The program has been very successful: since its inception two years ago, nine schools have changed their policies as a result of being named Speech Code of the Month. Today, we are turning up the heat on censorship even more with the introduction of our Speech Code of the Month Widget. By adding the widget to your blog or website, you can help expose these repressive speech codes by sharing this information with your readers. And if you send us a link to your site with the widget posted on it and your mailing address, we'll send you a free FIRE mug as well. Adding the Speech Code of the Month Widget to your site is easy; just follow the instructions after the jump.
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The Torch
June 9, 2008
In a victory for free speech on campus, Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has completely revised its "Personal Abuse" policy, which FIRE named its April 2007 Speech Code of the Month. Prior to amendment, FGCU's policy prohibited "lewd, indecent, racist, prejudice [sic], obscene, or expressions deemed inappropriate." The updated version of the "Personal Abuse" policy now prohibits only "[v]iolence, threat of violence or disregard of potential harm to others or against oneself or actions which endanger any member or guest of the University community, including physical, verbal, or sexual assault and relationship/domestic violence." While "verbal assault" is still vague, there is no question that this policy is a vast improvement over its predecessor. Unfortunately, however, student speech is still not truly free at FGCU, because other restrictive policies remain on the books. Today, FIRE calls on FGCU to eliminate all of its speech codes and grant students the rights to which they are legally and morally entitled.
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Press Release
June 5, 2008
Harvard University threatened to cancel a party planned by two Harvard student groups simply because of the party's name: "Barely Legal." FIRE has asked Harvard to reaffirm its commitment to its students' right to freedom of expression.
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Update: June 24, 2008, Read More About Harvard University: Administration Threatened to Cancel ‘Barely Legal’ Party Due to Event’s Name »
FIRE Update
June 4, 2008
Tonight, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., FIRE Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus Alan Charles Kors will receive a prestigious Bradley Prize for his inspiring defense of free speech and his scholarship. When the award was announced, Michael W. Grebe, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bradley Foundation, said, "In these times, free-thinking students have had no greater champion than Dr. Kors." It bears repeating that FIRE would not be here today without Alan's commitment to the basic principles of liberty. Congratulations to Alan on this well-deserved honor.
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The Torch
June 4, 2008
California State University–Fullerton has decided to reinstate Wendy Gonaver, the lecturer who was fired last August for refusing to sign the state's loyalty oath without being allowed to attach a brief personal addendum. Gonaver, a Quaker and lifelong pacifist, objected to the oath's requirement that she agree to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic." She has now reached a compromise with the university whereby she will be allowed to attach a personal statement expressing her views on the matter and her belief in nonviolence.
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Press Release
June 3, 2008
FIRE is pleased to announce its first annual "Freedom on Campus" Student Video Contest. The contest will give college and university students from around the country the opportunity to win a $5,000 scholarship and other prizes for producing short videos about school policies or practices that stifle their freedoms on campus. FIRE is also unveiling the second installment of the PBS series Voices of Vision featuring FIRE, now available on the multimedia page.
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