School Spotlight

Central Connecticut State University

Location: New Britain, Connecticut
Type: Public
Tell Central Connecticut State University to revise its speech policies by filling out this form.

Speech Code Rating

Central Connecticut State University has been given the speech code rating Yellow. Yellow light colleges and universities are those institutions with at least one ambiguous policy that too easily encourages administrative abuse and arbitrary application. Read more

  • Student Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- Prohibited Conduct

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Bullying Policies
    Last updated: June 4, 2020

    Offensive or disorderly conduct which causes interference, annoyance or alarm or recklessly creates a risk thereof at CSCU or CSCU premises, CSCU web or social media sites, at a CSCU- sponsored activity or in college or university courses, including cyber bullying. This offense does not apply to speech or other form... Read More

  • Student Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- Prohibited Conduct

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
    Last updated: June 4, 2020

    Harassment, which is defined as conduct which is abusive or which interferes with a person’s pursuit of his or her customary or usual affairs, including, but not limited to, such conduct when directed toward an individual or group because of race, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orient... Read More

  • Student Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- Preamble

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
    Last updated: June 4, 2020

    All members of CSCU must at all times govern their social and academic interactions with tolerance and mutual respect so that the students who pass through a CSCU door are enriched by these experiences and are prepared for full and enlightened participation in a multi-cultural society. Because of the BOR’s and CSCU&... Read More

  • Student Handbook: Rights and Responsibilities- Commitment to Civility

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Policies Restricting Freedom of Conscience
    Last updated: June 4, 2020

    As a Central Connecticut State University student:  It is in my own best interest to help create a world, a community, and a campus of compassion, equality, and justice for all people. It is my responsibility to help build a community that fosters mutual respect and a safe environment for all human beings regardles... Read More

  • Student Handbook: BOR\CSCU Sexual Misconduct Reporting, Support Services and Processes Policy

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
    Last updated: June 4, 2020

    Sexual misconduct may include engaging in one of more behaviors: (a) Sexual harassment, which can include any unwelcome sexual advance or request for sexual favors, or any conduct of a sexual nature when submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s educati... Read More

  • Student Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- Preamble

    Speech Code Rating: Green
    Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
    Last updated: June 4, 2020

    Academic institutions exist for the transmission of knowledge, the pursuit of truth, the development of students, and the general well- being of society. In line with this purpose, the Board of Regents for Higher Education (“BOR”) in conjunction with the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (“CSCU”) has the d... Read More

  • Office of Diversity and Equity: Bias Incident Response Procedure

    Speech Code Rating: Green
    Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
    Last updated: June 4, 2020

    Bias Incident – an act of discrimination[i], hate speech[ii], harassment[iii], or retaliation[iv] by known or unknown offenders that occurs on the CCSU campus or property, and that one could reasonably conclude is directed at a member or group of the Central Connecticut State University community because of th... Read More

  • Central Connecticut State University: Controversy Over Newspaper Cartoon

    September 20, 2007

    FIRE fought Central Connecticut State University’s (CCSU) urging the creation of “oversight boards” to “look further into making substantive, constructive changes” to the CCSU student paper, the Recorder, and suggesting the possibility of instituting a mandatory “cultural awareness” requirement after the Recorder published a cartoon that offended some members of the campus community.  FIRE wrote… Read more

  • Court Rejects University’s Use of FERPA to Withhold Police Records

    January 3, 2017

    A Connecticut state court judge rebuffed Central Connecticut State University’s (CCSU’s) attempt to use the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to deny an accused student access to evidence against him. The decision is a shot across the bow for schools considering invoking FERPA to withhold police records during disciplinary proceedings even though FERPA… Read more

  • Severe Penalties for Stealing Newspapers at Central Conn. State U.

    May 16, 2012

    Invoking a deep commitment to freedom of speech and freedom of the press, President Jack Miller of Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) has announced severe penalties against two soccer coaches who apparently stole about 150 copies of the student newspaper, The Recorder, in early May.  At least one of the coaches, Shaun Green, was caught… Read more

  • CCSU Professor on University’s Investigation of Gun-Related Speech

    March 18, 2009

    Jay Bergman, a history professor at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), has written on a controversy engulfing CCSU, in which undergraduate student John Wahlberg was reported to university authorities by his professor and then subjected to a police interrogation following his classroom presentation in support of the right to carry concealed firearms on campus. In… Read more

  • Rights in the News: FIRE Issues Get the Lou Dobbs Treatment

    March 13, 2009

    As Will wrote earlier in the week, FIRE has seen far too many instances of students’ First Amendment rights being thrown out the window when used to support Second Amendment rights. FIRE has been all over the news concerning the most recent instance of this, in which a student at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU)… Read more

  • Too Often, First Amendment Protections Denied to Second Amendment Speech

    March 10, 2009

    The First Amendment protects core political speech—and, as should be obvious, that protection extends to speech regarding the Second Amendment. This means that students at public universities and private universities that promise the right to free expression on campus must be free to engage in unfettered discussion of the merits of federal, state and local… Read more

  • FIRE’s Shibley to Appear on CNN’s ‘Lou Dobbs Tonight’

    March 10, 2009

    FIRE Vice President Robert Shibley is scheduled to appear on tonight’s edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN, which airs at 7 PM Eastern time. Robert will be discussing the growing censorship of gun-related speech on campus. Media interest in the topic has been growing since Central Connecticut State University’s campus newspaper, The Recorder, reported… Read more

  • FIRE’s Vice President to Appear on Connecticut Radio Show Today

    March 6, 2009

    Robert Shibley, FIRE’s Vice President, will be joining the Dan Lovallo Show this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. (Eastern) to discuss the recent concealed carry case at Central Connecticut State University. If you are in the Hartford area, you can listen to the show on WRDC 1360 AM. For those outside of Hartford, the show is… Read more

  • FIRE Weighs in on Connecticut Concealed Carry Case at FoxNews.com

    March 4, 2009

    FIRE’s Vice President Robert Shibley is quoted today in a FoxNews.com article about John Wahlberg, a Central Connecticut State University senior whose professor called the police after he advocated for the concealed carry of firearms on campus in a class presentation. Robert points out the serious concerns this raises for those who value free speech… Read more

  • Central Connecticut Update

    September 24, 2007

    Last week I wrote about the uproar developing at Central Connecticut State University over the publication of a three-panel cartoon that many have found offensive. FIRE continues to follow the case, and we sent a letter on September 20 to embattled President John W. Miller encouraging a dismissal of all charges filed against the Recorder… Read more

  • Can a Three-Panel Cartoon Really Disrupt a Campus (or Get a President Fired)?

    September 18, 2007

    The president of Central Connecticut State University is in a difficult position. The student newspaper has published a cartoon that has offended him and others and has been called racist and sexist. The problem is that he has stated publicly that the cartoon is protected “by the First Amendment and a broad range of judicial… Read more

  • Central Connecticut State Responds to Offensive Newspaper Article

    June 29, 2007

    In the February 7, 2007 issue of The Recorder, the student newspaper at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), student John Petroski published an article entitled “Rape Only Hurts if You Fight it” (article not available on the paper’s online archives but reprinted in full here). The article contained such sentiments as, “[f]ar from a vile… Read more