School Spotlight
Cypress College
Speech Code Rating
- At present, FIRE does not maintain information on this school's policies.
Cypress College: Professor Placed On Leave Following Viral Video of Classroom Exchange With Student About Police
May 14, 2021
On April 30, 2021, Cypress College placed adjunct professor Faryha Salim on administrative leave after a video of the professor’s exchange with a student during a Human Communication class was widely criticized online. The college said Salim was not being punished and that the leave was for safety reasons, even though Salim’s classes were taught… Read more
How adjunctification undermines academic freedom, and what FIRE is doing to help
December 6, 2021
One of the enduring myths of higher education is that the vast majority of professors are protected by tenure and have jobs for life, and so they are therefore free to research, teach, or speak openly about controversial ideas without fear of professional retaliation. This may have been the case 50 years ago — maybe… Read more
Cypress College used ‘safety’ as pretext to endorse a heckler’s veto
July 29, 2021
In April, a Cypress College student recorded a tense exchange over Zoom with his adjunct professor who peppered him with questions about his presentation, an exercise in persuasive argument for a communications class. As the clip went viral — fueled by anger over the professor’s cross-examination of the student’s discussion of police as “heroes” —… Read more
FIRE demands answers from Cypress College over cancelled professor
May 14, 2021
A viral video of a tense exchange between a student and an adjunct professor led California’s Cypress College to place the faculty member on administrative leave, cancelling their online classes in the name of “safety.” Video of the encounter, which was uploaded to YouTube, shows the student and professor debating whether police are heroes, and… Read more