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The Torch
August 20, 2008
The Brandeis University administration continues to maintain public silence about its unfair treatment of Donald Hindley, a beloved professor of nearly 50 years who had a monitor placed in his classroom after he critiqued the term "wetbacks" in class. President Jehuda Reinharz has never responded to FIRE's letters. Why have Brandeis's alumni chosen not to confront Reinharz and Provost Marty Krauss as the faculty and many students have done? While the faculty and the press (including national media and both student newspapers) have come to the defense of Hindley, where are notable trustees and alumni such as Mitch Albom, Sidney Blumenthal, Martin Peretz, Robert Zimmer, and Vartan Gregorian?
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Update: July 21, 2008, Read More About Brandeis University: Professor Found Guilty of Harassment for Protected Speech » The Torch
August 18, 2008
In an article published on InsideHigherEd.com today, Will Creeley, Samantha Harris, and Greg Lukianoff of FIRE explain why the Third Circuit reached the correct decision earlier this month in DeJohn v. Temple University. Arguing that critics of the decision fail to understand important aspects of the case, Creeley, Harris, and Lukianoff write that "the Third Circuit's clear pronouncement that the First Amendment rights of adult college students must not be abridged should be welcomed by public universities, not feared."
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Read More About Temple University: Speech Code Litigation » FIRE Update
August 15, 2008
President Bush signed the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act into law yesterday. Referred to by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as a bipartisan effort, the law affirms the importance of defending free speech and due process rights of college students across the nation. The law includes new, non-binding provisions stating that it is the sense of the Congress that "an institution of higher education should facilitate the free and open exchange of ideas" and that "students should not be intimidated, harassed, discouraged from speaking out, or discriminated against." In defense of due process, Congress added that college "students should be treated equally and fairly" and any student sanctions should be imposed "objectively and fairly." These strong words, though lacking the force of law, illustrate the public's unequivocal commitment to the core principles of free speech and due process that FIRE works to uphold on campus, and they should serve to remind universities of their obligation to live up to their unique and important role in society as the premier marketplace of ideas.
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August 13, 2008
"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit just made hundreds of colleges wonder how long their restrictive speech codes can survive," begins a staff editorial assessing the significance of last week's ruling in the case of DeJohn vs. Temple University in today's issue of The Washington Times. The editorial goes on to assert that "[c]olleges and universities generally know the game is up." While we at FIRE have been working to dismantle oppressive and unconstitutional speech codes for nearly ten years and know that the policies won't go quickly or quietly, the DeJohn ruling is a major victory for free speech, and the Times rightly captures its significance when stating that universities "will have little plausible defense if they insist on speech codes as nebulous and facially unconstitutional as Temple's." FIRE-which submitted an amicus brief in support of the case in 2007 and whose research is mentioned in the editorial-is pleased to have such continued attention drawn to this important decision. Furthermore, the editorial cites the comprehensive efforts of FIRE' Spotlight in exposing the widespread speech code abuses at colleges and universities across the United States. FIRE thanks the Times for bringing attention to the DeJohn ruling and to FIRE's speech code efforts.
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Update: August 18, 2008, Read More About Temple University: Speech Code Litigation » Press Release
August 4, 2008
Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an opinion in DeJohn v. Temple University upholding a decision by a federal district court that Temple University’s former speech code is unconstitutional. Temple’s code prohibited, among other things, “generalized sexist remarks and behavior.” In September 2007, FIRE filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the Third Circuit to uphold the lower court’s ruling.
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Update: August 18, 2008, Read More About Temple University: Speech Code Litigation » The Torch
August 4, 2008
In the current issue of The Boston Phoenix, FIRE Co-Founder and Board Chairman Harvey Silverglate decries the downfall of parody and satire as legitimate forms of expression on college campuses. Among the cases from the past twenty years discussed in the piece, titled "Parody Flunks Out," Harvey mentions FIRE's work defending the publishers of the conservative Tufts University newspaper The Primary Source, which was the subject of a harassment investigation following the publication of a satirical Christmas carol. Given the popularity of the satirical newspaper The Onion and television personalities Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert with the college crowd, Harvey notes the disconnect that students face today: "the political arts of parody and satire are, ironically, experiencing a renaissance among the young. But these parodies should come with a warning label to students: don't try this on campus."
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August 1, 2008
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for August 2008: Jackson State University in Mississippi. Jackson State's harassment policy provides, in relevant part, that "The scope of any form of harassment includes language to physical acts which degrades, insult, taunt, or challenges another person by any means of communication, verbal, so as to provoke a violent response, communication of threat, defamation of character, use of profanity, verbal assaults, derogatory comments or remarks, sexist remarks, racists remarks or any behavior that places another member of the University community in a state of fear or anxiety." This policy is so extraordinarily jumbled that it is impossible to tell exactly what is prohibited—a sure prescription for an unlawful chilling effect on campus speech. Moreover, although the full scope of the policy is impossible to discern, it is clear that much of what is prohibited is constitutionally protected expression. Jackson State's student handbook promises that "[a]s U.S. citizens, students enjoy the same freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, and right of petition that other citizens enjoy." But under the university's current regulations, nothing could be farther from the truth.
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July 31, 2008
To expand our growing Multimedia Project, we have uploaded a short video that previews the latest Voices of Vision episode featuring FIRE. This two-minute trailer provides a brief glimpse into FIRE's cases at Le Moyne College, where a graduate student was expelled for defending corporal punishment in the classroom, and SUNY Fredonia, where a professor was denied promotion for publicly disagreeing with the university's student conduct policies and affirmative action practices. If you would like to embed or link to this video on your blog or website, it is also available on YouTube and Veoh.
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July 22, 2008
The American Humanist Association's legal center has reached a settlement in the case of Steven C. Bitterman, a professor at Southwestern Community College (Iowa) who was fired in September—over the phone—after students complained about his argument in a Western Civilization course that the biblical story of Adam and Eve should not be taken literally. Bitterman is satisfied with the settlement. FIRE helped Bitterman compose a letter to the college in defense of his academic freedom, and a group of Iowa faculty circulated an open letter on his behalf. Thanks to the AHA for taking up Bitterman's case and defending academic freedom.
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July 21, 2008
The Alliance Defense Fund and Pacific Justice Institute have filed a lawsuit on behalf of June Sheldon, a San José City College biologist who was fired after she briefly discussed aspects of the nature-versus-nurture debate regarding sexual orientation and a student complained. Although Sheldon denied having said the wild things the student had accused her of saying, a weak investigation by her dean (without a proper hearing) led the dean to declare that Sheldon had not been teaching “science,” which led to Sheldon being fired. The lawsuit cites FIRE’s February 8 letter to the San José/Evergreen Community College District and emphasizes the district’s violations of Sheldon’s constitutional rights. Thanks to the ADF and PJI for taking up Sheldon’s case and defending academic freedom.
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Update: July 15, 2008, Read More About San José/Evergreen Community College District: Professor Fired for Protected Classroom Speech » |
