Table of Contents
Today’s ‘Campus Alert’: Hug At Your Own Risk
Today’s installment of our weekly Campus Alert feature in the New York Post discusses a sexual misconduct policy at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania with which FIRE has taken issue for quite some time.
The policy, which defines “brushing, touching, grabbing, pinching, patting, hugging and kissing” as sexual interactions, requires “verbal,” “continuing,” and “active” consent to participate in these exchanges.
As we note in Campus Alert:
In practice, complying with Gettysburg’s policy seems to mean that each and every physical contact between students is doomed to be embarrassingly awkward. (“Can I hold your hand?” “Yes.” “Can I continue to hold your hand?” “Yes.”) But of course Gettysburg students don’t comply with these ridiculous prohibitions; they’re students, not robots.Every Gettysburg student has likely violated the policy at some point. So why does it exist? Since it clearly has no relation to reality, the policy should be scrapped.Gettysburg’s administration insists that while the policy is enforced, it has never been used to crackdown on hugging or hand-holding, but the fact that the policy still exists means that administrators have explicitly reserved the right to punish students for this behavior when they deem it necessary. Trusting administrators with the power to punish on the promise that they won’t abuse that power is a losing proposition.
FIRE has been watching this case for a year now, and although Gettysburg promised a revision of the policy at the beginning of this academic year, the old policy is still on the books. As we said in Campus Alert, Gettysburg students should demand change, for while this policy exists, the danger remains that administrators may arbitrarily choose to enforce it.
Recent Articles
FIRE’s award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed.
LAWSUIT: Historian fights back after Pennsylvania state senator sues him for criticizing book
Sen. Doug Mastriano’s lawsuit is a textbook “SLAPP” case, in which powerful individuals sue their critics into silence through long, costly litigation.
Fire statement on University of Pennsylvania sanctions against Amy Wax
Faculty nationwide may now pay a heavy price for Penn's willingness to undercut academic freedom for all to get at this one professor.
FIRE statement on California’s Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act
AB 2655 threatens Californians’ right to speak freely about politics in their state.
House passes historic legislation protecting free speech on college campuses
Public colleges must do more to protect the First Amendment rights of students and faculty on campus, according to a new bill in the House.