Due Process
The University of California, San Diego, organized a Fall 2022 orientation program limited to students and families of students who identify as Black, Latinx, or Native American. On August 2, FIRE wrote to UCSD explaining that segregated educational programs, which have been illegal for decades, remain so regardless of which racial groups may benefit or... Read more Read more
On June 15, 2022, Kansas City Art Institute began investigating incoming student Ash Mikkelsen after it received a complaint about their pseudonoymous Twitter account, which includes retweeted images of Japanese cartoon pornography, or hentai. On June 29, KCAI expelled Mikkelsen for “contributing to a hostile learning environment” and “potential sexual harassment” based on the “content”... Read more Read more
On April 4, 2011, the federal Department of Education sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to colleges and universities nationwide that led to vast Title IX overreach. The letter led institutions of higher education to crack down on protected expression and eliminate vital procedural protections for students accused of sexual misconduct. For over a decade, FIRE... Read more Read more
On March 7, 2022, Oklahoma Christian University fired tenured professor Michael O’Keefe without due process based on a guest speaker’s presentation to O’Keefe’s class, which included the speaker telling a story about peer pressure involving the phrase “truth or dick,” as well as on allegations that O’Keefe told students not to complain about the speaker.... Read more Read more
On April 1, 2022, the University of Southern California held “The Black Men Will Summit,” an event aimed at addressing “the lack of restorative and healing spaces for Black male identified students at USC and in the larger community.” The event was initially described as “a space for all students who identify as Black men... Read more Read more
On February 14, 2022, Concordia University Wisconsin professor Gregory Schulz wrote an opinion article criticizing the university for “coming under the influence of Woke-ism.” Four days later, CUW suspended Schulz, banned him from campus, and prohibited him from contacting other members of the CUW community. FIRE wrote to CUW on March 4, explaining the university... Read more Read more
As part of its “Forum on White Supremacy and Global Colonization,” Elizabethtown College scheduled a three-part event, “Mediocre + Multimedia Content,” in October and November 2021. The college limited attendance at the event to “participants who identify as individuals of color.” FIRE wrote to the college on October 11, calling on the administration to remove... Read more Read more
On June 10, 2020, the Victim Rights Law Center, Equal Rights Advocates, Legal Voice, and Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation challenged the 2020 Title IX regulations as arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. FIRE, joined by Speech First and the Independent Women’s Law Center moved to intervene as defendants. After the U.S. District... Read more Read more
On July 19, 2021, FIRE, joined by Speech First and the Independent Women’s Law Center, petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari to review the First Circuit’s ruling affirming denial of our motion to intervene and resolve a circuit split on the proper standard for intervening in a lawsuit alongside the government. Under Federal Rule of... Read more Read more
On March 29, 2021, Linfield University professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner posted a Twitter thread criticizing the university for allegedly mishandling sexual abuse allegations. Pollack-Pelzner also accused Linfield president Miles K. Davis of making anti-Semitic remarks, which Davis denied. On April 27, Linfield abruptly fired Pollack-Pelzner, a tenured professor, without due process, citing “false public accusations that... Read more Read more