School Spotlight
California State Polytechnic University – Pomona
Speech Code Rating
Student Conduct Code
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: September 13, 2018Students are expected to be good citizens and to engage in responsible behaviors that reflect well upon their university, to be civil to one another and to others in the campus community, and contribute positively to student and university life. Read MoreHousing License Agreement: Posting
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: September 13, 2018University Housing Services reserves the right to remove from public view any signs or materials that promote alcohol/drugs, actual violence or harm, fighting words, true threats, expression that constitutes criminal or severe harassment, defamation, obscenities, and/or false advertising. Read MoreUniversity Catalog: Student Conduct and Discipline- Hate Crime Policy
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: September 13, 2018Hate Incident: Not all expressions of hate or group bias rise to the level of a hate crime as defined in state and federal statute. A noncriminal act or incident, while not criminal, is done with the apparent intention to: harass, intimidate, threaten, retaliate, and create conflict, because of a person’s race, ethn... Read MoreExecutive Order 1097: Systemwide Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Sexual Misconduct, Dating and Domestic Violence, and Stalking against Students
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: September 13, 2018For purposes of this Executive Order, the following definitions apply: … Harassment means unwelcome conduct, based on the Complainant’s Protected Status, that is sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive that its effect, whether or not intended, could be considered by a reasonable person in the shoes of the... Read MorePresidential Order: Use of University Buildings, Facilities, or Grounds
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: September 13, 2018All students and employees of Cal Poly Pomona and members of the public are free to lawfully exercise their constitutional right to freedom of expression on university property. Freedom of expression activity includes, but is not limited to, pure or symbolic speech, assembly, meeting, demonstrations or rallies, pick... Read MorePresidential Order: Use of University Buildings, Facilities, or Grounds
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: September 13, 2018While there will always be disagreements over what may constitute good taste or appropriate comment, there can be no question, particularly in a university, that freedom of expression as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution is a cherished and protected right. Accordingly, the campus community is ask... Read More
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona – Stand Up For Speech Lawsuit
March 31, 2015
Nicolas Tomas was banned from handing out flyers because he did not have a permit to speak.
Cal Poly Admin Says Suit Could Have Been Avoided If Student Had Only Met with Her First—But He Did
August 17, 2015
In April, a spokeswoman from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona claimed that if Nicolas Tomas, who challenged the university’s unconstitutional free speech zone in court, had just come to the administration, the situation could have been remedied without a lawsuit. As I pointed out here on The Torch in April, Nick did try to get… Read more
Victory: Animal Rights Activist Restores Free Speech Rights of Cal Poly Pomona Students with Lawsuit Settlement
July 23, 2015
LOS ANGELES, July 23, 2015—California State Polytechnic University, Pomona agreed today to settle a First Amendment lawsuit filed by Nicolas Tomas, a student and animal rights activist. Tomas’ victory restores not only his First Amendment rights but those of the nearly 24,000 students who attend Cal Poly Pomona. The lawsuit is the sixth consecutive victory… Read more
‘Los Angeles Times’ Shares Remarks from Student, Admins, Lawyers at the Heart of Cal Poly Pomona Lawsuit
May 13, 2015
A week ago, FIRE announced that California State Polytechnic University, Pomona was suspending its unconstitutional restrictions on speech during settlement talks for student Nicolas Tomas’s lawsuit against the school, brought as part of FIRE’s Stand Up For Speech Litigation Project. Tomas filed the suit in federal court after a campus police officer stopped him from… Read more
Dixie State U., Cal Poly Pomona Suspend Restrictive Speech Codes in Wake of FIRE-Led Lawsuits
May 7, 2015
PHILADELPHIA, May 7, 2015—Dixie State University in Utah and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona have both agreed this week to suspend numerous policies that substantially restrict students’ free speech rights on campus. The policy suspensions result from lawsuits filed this year as part of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s (FIRE’s) Stand Up For… Read more
Cal Poly Pomona Suspends Unconstitutional Policies in Response to Animal Rights Activist’s Lawsuit
May 6, 2015
LOS ANGELES, May 6, 2015—In response to a First Amendment lawsuit filed by student and animal rights activist Nicolas Tomas, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona has promised not to enforce the university policies at issue while the case is being litigated. The lawsuit, which was filed in March as part of the Foundation for Individual… Read more
Two Reasons Why Cal Poly Pomona Lawsuit Is Different
April 10, 2015
Last week, student Nicolas Tomas sued California State Polytechnic University, Pomona for violating his First Amendment rights by limiting his efforts to campaign for animal rights to a tiny “free speech zone” that makes up about 0.01 percent of the campus. Tomas’s suit, the ninth in FIRE’s Stand Up For Speech Litigation Project (SUFS), was… Read more
Cal Poly Pomona Plaintiff Speaks Out on Why He Decided to Sue His School
April 8, 2015
In a recent op-ed for California State Polytechnic University, Pomona’s student newspaper, The Poly Post, student-plaintiff Nicolas Tomas reviews the events that led him to sue his university and his goals for the lawsuit. As Torch readers may recall, on March 31, 2015, Tomas filed a First Amendment lawsuit against Cal Poly Pomona with FIRE’s… Read more
Student Animal Rights Activist Sues Cal Poly Pomona for Requiring Permit to Speak
March 31, 2015
LOS ANGELES, March 31, 2015—College student Nicolas Tomas filed a First Amendment lawsuit today against California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, with assistance from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). The lawsuit targets university policies that restrict where, when, and how students can exercise their free speech rights. The lawsuit alleges that on February… Read more
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