California: Unconstitutional Discriminatory Harassment Policies

August 1, 2009

California State University at San Bernardino: Refusal to Recognize Christian Group

December 20, 2005

California State University at San Bernardino (CSUSB) has refused to recognize a Christian student organization for requiring its members to live according to the group’s religious faith. The Christian Student Association at CSUSB contacted FIRE for help after the university said that the group’s statements on faith and sexual morality were “not permissible.”

Facilities Use Policy

Speech Code Category: Other Speech Codes
Last updated: March 1, 2016

University buildings and grounds may be scheduled and resources and personnel used only for events which are consistent with the goals, mission and current priorities of the university.

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Executive Order 1097: Systemwide Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation Against Students and Systemwide Procedure for Handling Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation Complaints by Students

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

Sexual Harassment, a form of Sex Discrimination, is unwelcome verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that includes, but is not limited to Sexual Violence, sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and indecent exposure where:

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b. Such conduct 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 Student, and is in fact considered by the Student, as limiting the Student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities or opportunities offered by the University; or

c. Such conduct 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 Student, and is in fact considered by the Student, as intimidating, hostile or offensive.

Sexual Harassment also includes acts of verbal, non-verbal or physical aggression, intimidation or hostility based on gender or sex-stereotyping, even if those acts do not involve conduct of a sexual nature.

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Student Code of Conduct

Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

Use of computing facilities and resources to send obscene or intimidating and abusive messages.

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Office of Housing and Residential Life Policies and Procedures: Disorderly Conduct

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

Participating in an activity that substantially and materially disrupts the normal operations of the residential community, or infringes on the rights of members of the University community are not permitted including:
A. Overt actions such as verbal attacks and physical assaults on students, University staff and/or their property.
B. Physical or written defacement or destruction of residential property, including postings and posters.
C. Behaviors whether through conduct or expression which are not civil or respectful and which breach the peace within or around the residence halls or at any residence-hall related functions.

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Office of Housing and Residential Life Policies and Procedures: Posting

Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

All materials to be posted must be submitted and approved by the Office of Housing and Residential Life. Public display of “obscene matter” as defined in the California Penal Code, Section 311, is prohibited anywhere on campus, including the housing facility. No alcohol/drug-related materials may be posted in a public area or a place where they can be viewed from a public area (e.g. external unit door, balcony, in a visible place from windows, etc.)

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Acceptable Use Policy for Electronic Communications

Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

Users may not use campus computing or network services to threaten, harass, stalk, defame, or otherwise interfere with the legal rights of others.

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Policy on Speech and Advocacy

Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

III. Free Expression at California State University, San Bernardino

At the CSUSB campuses, the time, place, and manner of expression are limited solely by the following general conditions and by additional specific conditions as defined in this policy.

The exercise of free speech and assembly rights must comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws. In addition, such activities may not:

1. Interfere with classes in session or other scheduled academic, educational, cultural/arts programs or with use of the University Library.
2. Obstruct the flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
3. Interfere with or disrupt the conduct of University business.
4. Employ unauthorized sound amplification or create unreasonable noise disruptive of normal University activities.
5. Harass or intimidate persons in the immediate area of the activity.
6. Violate any federal, state, or local safety codes, such as regulations set by the State Fire Marshal.

There shall be no restrictions on legal free speech activity based on the content of such speech or expression or on the political, religious, or other affiliations of speakers. Illegal speech activity, not protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or by this policy, includes defamation, obscenity, terrorist threats, false advertising, and the promotion of actual or imminent violence or harm.

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Outdoor demonstrations or public protests may be held on university property without advance permission provided these adhere to the general limitations described in Section III.

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Policy on Speech and Advocacy

Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: March 1, 2016

California State University, San Bernardino is dedicated to affording members of the University community the protections for freedom of speech, expression, assembly, religion, and press available under the U.S. and California Constitutions and all applicable federal and state laws in accordance with the University’s purpose and function.

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Some colleges need to take free-speech classes, according to survey

December 21, 2012

The Watchdog Blog Many of America’s colleges appear to need to take a few courses in free speech. More than 60 percent of the 400-plus colleges and universities studied by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education have policies that restrict students’ First Amendment rights. In a report released this week, FIRE also raised concern over federal and state regulations governing bullying and harassment that the report labeled sloppily written and implemented. To be fair, FIRE acknowledged that the number of schools with “red light” free-speech codes has declined for the fifth straight year. And more schools eliminated their restrictive speech policies in 2012, earning […]

California Tells Christian Club it Must Admit Non-Christians and Homosexuals

January 2, 2006

A new Christian club at California State University–San Bernardino was recently denied official recognition by the university because it required its members to adhere to Biblical principles of morality. Some of these principles, as explained by the student organizer, Ryan Sorba, include abstaining from premarital sex and homosexual relations. Sorba says that in order to join his Christian group, a student must adhere to the teachings of Jesus Christ and strive to avoid sinful behavior. According to Cal-State San Bernardino President Albert Karnig, these membership restrictions violate Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations. This law states, “No campus […]

FIRE: California School Curtails Christian Students’ First Amendment Rights

December 27, 2005

A spokesman for the advocacy group known as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) says California State University at San Bernardino is discriminating against a Christian student group in a way that has become all too common on college campuses across the United States. California State University – San Bernardino is refusing to recognize a campus Christian Student Association (CSA) for requiring that its members be Christians and adhere to the group’s statements of faith and sexual morality. The university claims that by trying to maintain its evangelical identity, the CSA is discriminating against non-Christians. However, FIRE’s legal […]

Campus Left to Christians, Conservatives: Shut Up!

December 24, 2005

By Mark Tapscott at Townhall.com Scratch many of the administrators in charge on American campuses these days and you often find a neo-Stalinist who has no hesitation about suppressing views that deviate from leftist orthodoxy. If you doubt me, try supporting Christianity or conservatism in a public way in the ivy covered groves of American academe. Take California State University at San Bernadino, for example, where administrators refuse to charter the Christian Students Association because the group thinks its members should be professing Christians. Imagine that! The group ‘would not be required to admit members who did not support the […]

Rights threats come from all directions

December 20, 2005

President Bush should quit his legally unauthorized eavesdropping on Americans, and no one should argue, as some conservatives have, that there is an understanding buried deep in the Constitution that grants him the privilege of doing whatever he darned well pleases if we are involved in a war. This understanding is buried so deep that, to detect it, you have to go into a trance-like state of imagining that constitutional language implies meanings contrary to what that language actually states. Give it up, friends. But the leftists who are contending this abridgement of law is the final proof of Bush’s […]

University rejects Christian student group

December 20, 2005

A state university in California refuses to recognize a Christian student organization because it requires members to live according to the group’s religious faith. The Christian Student Association at California State University at San Bernardino submitted a constitution pledging it will not discriminate on the basis of “race, color, national origin, gender, or physical disability” but reserve the right to restrict membership based on religious beliefs and sexual orientation, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE. In October, however, a university administrator said although the group “would not be required to admit members who did not […]

SoCal university denies charter to Christian group

December 20, 2005

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.—California State University, San Bernardino has refused to allow a Christian group to organize on campus, saying it would discriminate against non-Christians and homosexuals. The Christian Student Association’s proposed constitution included a statement on sexual morality and required members and officers to be Christian. State law prevents student groups at public universities from excluding people based on religion or sexual orientation. “We are not permitted to charter them under Title V,” said Christine Hansen, director of student leadership and development in the office of Student Affairs. She was referring to a section of the state education code. Ryan […]

California State University 2, Christianity 0

December 20, 2005

For the second time in two weeks, Christianity is on the losing end of a decision made by officials from the California State University system. Some students from Cal State at San Bernardino have been told that forming a Christian group is “not permissible” at the university because it restricts membership based on religious beliefs and sexual orientation. Last week, an administrator from Cal State at Sacramento banned decorations pertaining to Christmas and the 4th of July, among other holidays, from her office because, she said, they represented “religious discrimination” and “ethnic insensitivity.” In the San Bernardino case, the Christian […]

CSUSB group drawing notice

December 20, 2005

SAN BERNARDINO—Ryan Sorba says officials at Cal State San Bernardino are discriminating against Christians by withholding resources from his student group, which prohibits non-Christians and homosexuals from becoming members. School officials say Sorba is the one being intolerant and the school is simply following California law. “This is about whether or not the First Amendment is allowed to exist at Cal State San Bernardino and whether or not Christians are allowed to exist,” said Sorba, who also is president of the College Republicans. The case has caught the attention of a few national organizations, which Monday began campaigns to have […]

Christian group denied Cal State charter

December 20, 2005

Cal State San Bernardino has denied a Christian student group’s request to organize on campus, saying the organization would have discriminated against non-Christians and homosexuals. “For us, this has nothing to do with discrimination,” Ryan Sorba, who worked to organize the Christian Student Association, said Monday. “This has to do with people being in the club who are Christian.” Every student group organized at Cal State San Bernardino must meet certain requirements, said Christine Hansen, director of student leadership and development. According to state law, student groups at public universities cannot exclude members based on religion or sexual orientation. The […]

Cal State vs. the Constitution

January 5, 2006

There seems to be a real case of Peter Harveyism developing out at California State University–San Bernardino (CSUSB). What is “Peter Harveyism,” you ask? You’re looking at a case of Peter Harveyism when a state official cites state regulations in order to defend an incoherent and unconstitutional policy. Peter Harvey, the attorney general of New Jersey, became infamous within FIRE when his office sent us a letter defending William Paterson University’s persecution of student employee Jihad Daniel for “harassment” because he sent a private e-mail expressing his religious opinion of homosexuality in response to an unsolicited e-mail advertising the showing […]

The War on Christians (and Muslims)

December 27, 2005

There has been a lot of talk the past few months about the “war on Christmas,” by which people generally mean the replacement of the religious symbols and language of Christmas with secular language and symbols of the holidays. This is often extended into an argument that there is a growing cultural hostility to the public observance of religion in general and Christianity in particular. It’s not in FIRE’s mission to address these issues with regard to society in general—we leave that to the dozens of groups and thousands of individuals who engage in extended disputes about this every year—but […]

Cal State’s Spineless Defense

December 20, 2005

FIRE’s case at Cal State San Bernardino is making national headlines today. An Associated Press piece is running across California, and the San Bernardino County Sun, the Riverside Press Enterprise, and several other media outlets have published their own stories on Cal State’s assault on religious liberty. FIRE’s own Greg Lukianoff has also been taking to the airwaves all day. All the news articles will continue to be archived on our case page, and if you peruse them, you’ll see one thing over and over: Cal State’s exceedingly lame justification for its actions. It goes a bit like this: Cal […]

Cal State San Bernardino Spikes Christian Student Group

December 19, 2005

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., December 19, 2005—California State University at San Bernardino (CSUSB) has refused to recognize a Christian student organization for requiring its members to live according to the group’s religious faith. The Christian Student Association (CSA) at CSUSB contacted the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help after the university said that the group’s statements on faith and sexual morality were “not permissible.” “Time after time, college administrators have robbed students of their fundamental freedoms of association and religion, so CSA’s situation sadly comes as no surprise,” remarked FIRE Director of Legal and Public Advocacy Greg Lukianoff. […]