School Spotlight
Bryn Mawr College
Speech Code Rating
Student Handbook: Bryn Mawr College Honor Code
Speech Code Rating: Red
Speech Code Category: Policies Restricting Freedom of Conscience
Last updated: April 3, 2019We recognize that acts of discrimination and harassment, including, but not limited to, acts of racism, homophobia, classism, ableism, and discrimination against religious and political minorities are devoid of respect and therefore, by definition, violate this Code. Read MoreStudent Handbook: Equal Opportunity, Non-Discrimination, and Discriminatory Harassment Policies
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: April 3, 2019It is the policy of Bryn Mawr College to maintain a work and academic environment free from discrimination and offensive or degrading remarks or conduct. … Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct constitute sexual harassment when: … Such conduct has the... Read MoreStudent Handbook: Equal Opportunity, Non-Discrimination, and Discriminatory Harassment Policies
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: April 3, 2019The College is firmly committed to academic and professional excellence and to freedom of inquiry and expression for all members of the College community. In order to preserve an atmosphere in which these goals can be pursued, certain norms of civility, based on mutual respect and appreciation of differences, recogn... Read MoreBias Response
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: April 3, 2019What is a bias incident? Bias incidents refer to conduct, speech, images or expression that demonstrate conscious or unconscious bias which targets individuals or groups based on but not limited to their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, dis... Read MoreStudent Handbook: Freedom of Speech and the Limits of Dissent
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: April 3, 2019Bryn Mawr’s commitment to the free expression of ideas extends to the expression of dissenting ideas; the College recognizes that the free representation of dissenting points of view is necessary to the climate of open and vigorous debate essential to its educational mission. Read More
At Bryn Mawr, Another Speech Code of the Month is Reformed
July 8, 2010
FIRE is pleased to announce that Bryn Mawr College has reformed its sexual harassment policy, which had been named our Speech Code of the Month for May 2010. FIRE wrote Bryn Mawr President Jane McAuliffe on June 2 to voice our concerns about the policy, which prohibited "offensive or degrading remarks" and listed "[n]egative or… Read more
Speech Code of the Month: Bryn Mawr College
May 6, 2010
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for May 2010: Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. The harassment policy in Bryn Mawr’s student handbook states that “[i]t is the policy of Bryn Mawr College to maintain a work and academic environment free from discrimination and offensive or degrading remarks or conduct.” The policy also includes… Read more
On Freedom of Conscience, Bryn Mawr Gets It Right
September 14, 2007
Early this summer, FIRE received a case submission from a Bryn Mawr student worried about a proposal for a “Social Justice Pilot Program” gaining momentum on her campus. Conceived in the wake of a campus scandal involving racial slurs published on popular social networking site Facebook.com by a member of the school’s student government, student… Read more
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