School Spotlight
Colby College
Location:
Waterville, Maine
Type:
Private
Speech Code Rating
Colby College 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, Accountability and Responsibility- Gender-Based Harassment
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: August 19, 2021Gender-Based Harassment includes harassment based on a person’s actual or perceived gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or gender stereotypes which may include acts of aggression, intimidation, or hostility, whether verbal or non-verbal, graphic, physical, or otherwise, even if the acts d... Read MoreColby College Harassment and Sexual Harassment Policy and Complaint Procedures
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: August 19, 2021Harassment based on any protected category, including race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability, military status, or genetic information is an affront to the target of such harassment and degrades the classroom, social, or workplace environ... Read MoreStudent Handbook: Student Conduct Expectations: Code of Student Conduct
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: August 19, 2021In accepting membership in the Colby community, students agree to conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with the values of an academic community, including but not limited to honesty, integrity, civility, personal responsibility, respect for the rights of others, and openness in the pursuit of knowledge ... Read MorePolicy on Acceptable Use of Digital Resources
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: August 19, 2021IT resources may not be used in any manner prohibited by state and federal law or disallowed by licenses, contracts, or College policy. This section, while not all-inclusive, lists examples of misuse that may constitute a violation of College policy. … Sending threatening messages or other material constitutin... Read MoreStudent Handbook: Chalking Policy
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: August 19, 2021On occasion, student organizations or individual(s) may seek to promote public awareness on issues and concerns by “chalking” various areas of the campus grounds. Chalking may be done on walkways or roads (not steps or buildings) provided the following guidelines are followed. … Messages that constitute harass... Read MoreStudent Handbook: General College Policies and Procedures- Free Expression
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: August 19, 2021The right of free expression—which does not include a right to harass, intimidate, injure, or silence others—is essential in an academic community and will be vigorously upheld. Infringing upon the expression of views, either by interfering with a speaker, or by defacing or removing properly posted or distributed no... Read MoreTitle IX Sexual Harassment Policy
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: August 19, 2021The Title IX regulations define Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment as unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature (as determined by a reasonable person) that is so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a student or employee equal access to the College’s education programs and activities. Read More
FIRE surveyed roughly 37,000 students at 154 colleges and universities about the climate for free speech at their institutions. In 2021, FIRE released rankings of those schools, based on a number of factors, including openness, tolerance, self-expression, administrative support for free speech, and campus policies, scoring overall speech climate on a scale from 0-100. See the full report on FIRE’s 2021 College Free Speech Rankings for more information.
Rankings / out of 154 colleges surveyed |
|
| Overall Ranking | 146 |
| Ideological Diversity | 94 |
Overall / out of a top score of 100 |
|
| Overall Score | 53.54 |
| Openness | 10.25 |
| Tolerance (Liberals) | 11.29 |
| Tolerance (Conservatives) | 7.23 |
| Administrative Support | 5.86 |
| Comfort | 15.39 |
| Disruptive Conduct | 9.52 |
| Speech Code | YELLOW |
Colby College president: ‘My responsibility is to foster an environment on campus that supports free inquiry’
June 12, 2017
In an email to the college community this past Friday, Colby College President David Greene responded publicly to students who asked Greene why he did not sign a letter criticizing President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. In his message, Greene took a strong stand in favor of free speech at… Read more
Speech Code of the Month: Colby College
July 20, 2016
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for July 2016: Colby College in Maine. Colby’s Bias Incident Prevention and Response protocol encourages students to report on one another to the administration for a wide range of speech and expression. Not only that, but the college recently placed its previously-public “bias incident log” under password… Read more
The Retreat of the Public Intellectual
September 22, 2006
In the recent edition of the alumni magazine from my alma mater, Colby College, there’s an interesting article by government professor Paul Reisert about the cultural marginalization of academia. He writes, There was a time, not that long ago, when leading figures in higher education served as public intellectuals, addressing the vital issues of their… Read more