School Spotlight
College of Charleston
Speech Code Rating
Student Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- Harassment
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: January 6, 2021Harassment: Repeated use of written, verbal, or electronic expression or physical act or gesture, or any combination thereof, directed at a person that places that person in reasonable fear for their physical safety, or prevents the person from conducting their customary or usual affairs, or substantially interferes... Read MoreStudent Handbook: Administrative Regulations- Signage: Banners, Signs and Posted Material
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: January 6, 2021All Postings must contain the name of the sponsoring individual or organization (“Sponsor”). … Except as noted below, the Division of Marketing and Communications oversees the request and approval process for Postings on College property. Requests for Postings must include the proposed design, dimensions, post... Read MoreStudent Handbook: Bullying and Incivility
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Bullying Policies
Last updated: January 6, 2021Bullying is prohibited under the Code of Conduct and as such can be grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including suspension or expulsion. As defined in the Code, bullying is repeated and/or severe aggressive behavior likely to intimidate or intentionally hurt or diminish another person physically or mentally... Read MoreStudent Sexual Misconduct Policy: Sexual/gender harassment
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: January 6, 2021Sexual/gender harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when … such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or academic performance or other educational benefit or creatin... Read MoreStudent Handbook: Free Speech, Expression, and Assembly of Students, Faculty, and Staff
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: January 6, 2021Members of the College Community may conduct expressive activity in the publicly accessible outdoor portions of campus, excluding parking lots, parking garages, driveways, and entrances to buildings. Expressive activity may not impede the free flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic through campus, nor may it impede... Read MoreInterim Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy and Grievance Procedure
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: May 2, 2022Title IX sexual harassment is conduct based on sex that satisfies one or more of the following: … Hostile Environment: Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that is effectively denies a person equal access to the College’s education program or... Read MoreStudent Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- College of Charleston Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: January 6, 2021Students are not only members of the academic community but are also members of the larger society. Students, therefore, retain the rights, guarantees and protections afforded to and the responsibilities held by all citizens. The university community acknowledges and celebrates the rights of students to 1) participa... Read More
South Carolina Legislature Punishes State Universities for Assigning LGBT-themed Books
August 27, 2015
On June 12, 2014, in a deeply disappointing development, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley approved a provision in the state’s budget that punished two state universities—the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina Upstate—for including LGBT-themed books as required reading for freshmen. The troublesome provision required the two institutions to spend the same… Read more
Banned Books Week: Depressingly Relevant, Even to College Students
September 24, 2014
Each year, the American Library Association (ALA) invites free speech advocates and book-lovers across the country to celebrate Banned Books Week. The ALA explains on its website: Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open… Read more
South Carolina Budget Punishes Colleges for LGBT Books, Violates Academic Freedom
June 13, 2014
In a deeply disappointing development yesterday, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley approved a provision in the state’s budget that punishes two state universities—the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina Upstate—for including LGBT-themed books as required reading for freshmen.
In Letter, FIRE Urges South Carolina’s Governor to Uphold Academic Freedom
March 13, 2014
By now, Torch readers know about the budget controversy in South Carolina, where some state legislators are trying to reduce the annual budgets of the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina Upstate by the amount of money each school spent on required reading programs that included books on LGBT topics ($52,000 and approximately $17,000, respectively). To date, legislative amendments aimed at restoring the funding have failed. So yesterday, FIRE wrote to South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (PDF) to urge her to ensure that state lawmakers do not punish state institutions for their choice of curriculum.
South Carolina House Votes to Punish Schools for Book Assignments
March 11, 2014
Last month, South Carolina’s House Ways and Means Committee voted in favor of budget cuts to the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina Upstate by amounts matching the money each school spent on required reading programs that included books on LGBT topics ($52,000 and approximately $17,000, respectively). State Representative Garry Smith made clear that the proposal was meant as a punishment for the schools’ choices in reading materials: an illustrated memoir about a lesbian woman and her gay father, and a nonfiction account of South Carolina’s first gay and lesbian radio show.