School Spotlight
Central Connecticut State University
Speech Code Rating
Student Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- Prohibited Conduct
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Bullying Policies
Last updated: June 4, 2020Offensive 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 MoreStudent Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- Prohibited Conduct
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: June 4, 2020Harassment, 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 MoreStudent Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- Preamble
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: June 4, 2020All 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 MoreStudent Handbook: Rights and Responsibilities- Commitment to Civility
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies Restricting Freedom of Conscience
Last updated: June 4, 2020As 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 MoreStudent Handbook: BOR\CSCU Sexual Misconduct Reporting, Support Services and Processes Policy
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: June 4, 2020Sexual 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 MoreStudent Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- Preamble
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: June 4, 2020Academic 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 MoreOffice 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, 2020Bias 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
Response to professor’s criticism of 1619 Project reveals misunderstanding of faculty’s right to speak on public issues
July 12, 2021
Like any member of the public, faculty at public universities have a First Amendment right to comment as citizens on matters of public concern. Nothing about this right requires faculty to keep their university affiliation a secret when they speak in a personal capacity. But that doesn’t stop others from suggesting otherwise, as demonstrated by… 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