Fayetteville State University

University of North Carolina System: State of the First Amendment

January 10, 2006

FIRE teamed up with the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy to release the Report on the State of the First Amendment in the University of North Carolina System. The Report notes that UNC System’s many speech codes and illiberal restrictions on religious groups would likely not survive a legal challenge. It also reveals that “13 out of the 16 schools in the UNC System have at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech.”

Electronic Mail

Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: July 31, 2018

Use of the University’s e-mail system evidences a student’s or employee’s agreement to be bound by this Policy.

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Unacceptable usage of a University e-mail account may result in legal liability, lost productivity, negative publicity, and/or damage to an employee’s or the University’s reputation, and may result in disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.. The following include, but are not limited to such unacceptable uses: … Use for political purposes, such as promoting political causes and/or advancing a political party or a candidate for political office.

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Student Handbook: Rudolph Jones Student Center

Speech Code Category: Other Speech Codes
Last updated: July 31, 2018

While a patron of the student center, we ask that you refrain from: … Using profanity

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Student Handbook: Bulletin Boards, Fliers & Posters

Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: July 31, 2018

Fliers and posters may be displayed on bulletin boards, window interiors, and other designated areas within buildings. Fliers and posters may NOT be posted on glass doors, light poles, call boxes, signs, trees, or other outdoor equipment or surfaces. Posting at the Gazebo is allowed on a temporary basis for events hosted at that location and must be remove immediately following the event without any damage. Further permission from some building or location managers may be required. Any posting in a location that is not approved will be immediately removed.

Only fliers and posters approved for distribution and representing recognized University clubs, organizations, or departments may be posted on campus. Night club, bar, independent business, and other fliers and advertisements must be stamped for campus distribution by the Office of Public Relations and will be removed without proof of approval.

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Guide to Residential Living: Doors, Walls, and Room Decorating

Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: July 23, 2018

The outside of the room door and the window facing outward are considered public display areas which should represent the character of the institution. Therefore, public areas should not display harassing (as defined below) material.

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Sexual Harassment
Any unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when: … such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance,
academic activities or student experience, or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working, academic or student life environment.

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Code of Student Conduct: Sexual Harassment

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: July 30, 2018

Sexual Harassment shall mean unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when: … such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance, academic activities or student experience, or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working, academic or student life environment.

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Sexual Harassment

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: July 30, 2018

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when: … Such conduct is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it unreasonably interferes with, limits, or deprives an individual from participating in or benefiting from the University’s education or employment programs and/or activities.

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Code of Student Conduct: Harassment and/or Retaliation

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: July 23, 2018

Harassment and/or Retaliation shall mean any act which leads to a hostile
environment including conduct that is

• directed toward a particular person or persons,
•  unwelcomed,
• based upon the person’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender-identity, creed, disability, veteran status, political affiliation or student organization affiliation,
• severe or pervasive, and
• so objectively offensive that it unreasonably interferes with the target person’s employment, academic pursuits, or participation in University-sponsored activities such that it effectively denies equal access to the University’s resources and opportunities.

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Use of Computer Resources

Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: July 30, 2018

Under no circumstances shall a student, employee or other authorized user engage in any of the following activities while using University computer resources.

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Harassment which shall mean any act which leads to a hostile environment that includes the following:

• severe, pervasive, and unwelcomed;
• directed toward a particular person or persons;
• based upon that person’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender-identity, creed, disability, veteran status, political affiliation, or student organization affiliation; and
• so objectively offensive that it unreasonably interferes with the target person’s employment, academic pursuits, or participation in University-sponsored activities such that it effectively denies equal access to the University’s resources and opportunities.

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Free Speech Rights Must Extend to Students’ Online Expression

October 24, 2012

This fall, FIRE is writing a blog series about how schools can reform their problematic speech codes and earn a “green light” rating from FIRE—a distinction currently awarded to just 16 of the more than 400 schools in our Spotlight database but one we hope to be able to award to many more in the years to come. So far, we have discussed how universities restrict speech by mandating “civility” and by improperly broadening the definition of “harassment.” (Harassment, while not protected speech, is a term with a very specific legal meaning.) Today we tackle another common problem: restrictions on […]

Nearly Three Years Later, Significant Improvement at North Carolina’s Public Universities

September 22, 2008

In January 2006, FIRE and the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy released a Report on the State of the First Amendment in the University of North Carolina System. The report took an in-depth look at the speech codes in force at each of the sixteen universities in the UNC System and made detailed recommendations for how those codes could be improved. At the time, 13 of the 16 schools in the system received a “red-light” rating from FIRE for maintaining policies that clearly and substantially restricted students’ right to freedom of speech. Happily, a number of the […]

Pope Center’s ‘Clarion Call’ Highlights FIRE Speech Code of the Month Victory

November 9, 2007

This week’s Clarion Call, the weekly column of the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, highlights FIRE’s speech code victory at Fayetteville State University. Fayetteville State’s Code of Student Conduct was picked as FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month for January 2007. It defined racial harassment as: [V]erbal or physical behavior that stigmatizes or victimizes an individual on the basis of race and involves an express or implied threat to another person’s academic pursuits or participation in activities sponsored by the University or organizations or groups related to the University. It was identical to a University of Michigan […]

Speech Code of the Month: Fayetteville State University

January 2, 2007

FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for January 2007: Fayetteville State University. Denying your students their First Amendment rights takes a lot of nerve. But for a public university to maintain—word for word—a policy that has explicitly been declared unconstitutional by a federal court takes chutzpah to a whole new level. That’s why Fayetteville State University in North Carolina is 2007’s first Speech Code of the Month. Fayetteville State’s Code of Student Conduct prohibits racial harassment, defined as: [V]erbal or physical behavior that stigmatizes or victimizes an individual on the basis of race and involves an express or […]