• Grambling State University: Ban on Core Political Expression

  September 1, 2010

  The Media Relations department at GSU sent an e-mail on July 13, 2010, ordering the GSU community to delete all e-mails containing political campaign solicitations and to not forward them because doing so implied support for a particular candidate. FIRE wrote President Frank G. Pogue, explaining that this policy unduly restricted the right to freedom of speech. In response, Director of Public Relations Vanessa Littleton claimed that GSU does not prohibit political expression on campus, but she then cited GSU’s “Email Use Policy,” which substantially restricts freedom of speech. For example, it bans “joke emails” and those containing “offensive comments” […]

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Red Light Policies

• Code of Student Conduct: Peer Sexual Harassment

  Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
  Last updated: August 25, 2016

  Unwelcomed and unsolicited sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or other verbal, visual or physical conduct or communication with sexual overtones that the victim deems offensive. Sexual harassment includes, but is not limited to, unsolicited, deliberate or repeated sexual flirtation, advances or propositions; verbal abuse of a sexual nature; display of sexually suggestive pictures or objects; and/or offensive or abusive physical contact of a sexual nature.

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• Code of Student Conduct: Indecent, Obscene, Immoral Behavior, or Profanity

  Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
  Last updated: August 25, 2016

  This includes conduct which is disorderly, lewd, or indecent. Such acts include but are not limited to: the use of obscene gestures, improper body exposures, or other immoral acts or use of profanity to any faculty, staff, student, or University official.

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• Code of Student Conduct: Misuse of Computer Resources

  Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
  Last updated: August 25, 2016

  The unauthorized entry into a file to use, read, or alter the contents thereof, or transfer a file for any purpose. These include, but not limited to, use of another’s identification and password without authorization, use of computing facilities to interfere with the work of another, to transmit obscene harassing or abusive messages, to interfere with the normal operations of the University computer system, network, or services.

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• Code of Student Conduct: Students’ Rights and Responsibilities

  Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
  Last updated: August 25, 2016

  the institution in public places, are permitted subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions for the maintenance of order, safety and security and is applicable to local, state and federal laws. Prior approval from the President or Vice President for Student Affairs is required for students to receive a designated area for demonstrations. (See Speech Policy)

  Publication and Distribution. Students shall be free to publish and to distribute their ideas in the form of newspapers, newsletters, leaflets, and the like, subject to time, place, and manner restrictions identified by the President or Vice President for Student Affairs. (See Speech Policy)

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• Code of Student Conduct: Assault

  Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
  Last updated: August 25, 2016

  The intentional harassment, degradation, threat or intimidation of another in an attempt to commit a battery, or the intentional placing of another in reasonable apprehension of receiving a battery. Physical contact is not required. This includes engaging in, attempting or intending to engage in any form of verbal or mental abuse, or coercion which is directed toward another person or group of people which creates an intimidating, fearful or offensive environment in the classrooms, offices, dormitories, and the University premises in general.

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• Policy # 62002: Sexual Misconduct Policy

  Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
  Last updated: August 25, 2016

  Sexual Harassment – Unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature when … such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with a person’s employment or education, or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive employment or educational environment, and has no legitimate relationship to the subject matter of a course or academic research.

  […]

  Hostile Environment – Environment created by harassment based upon sex or on gender stereotypes, which is so severe or pervasive that it unreasonably interferes with a person’s University employment, academic performance or participation in University programs or activities and creates a working, learning, program or activity environment that a reasonable person would find intimidating, hostile or offensive.

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• Not trashing the news: The job of campus censors

  October 27, 2013

  by David Danforth Your school is Concordia College in Fargo, North Dakota. Along with 2,810 other students, you worship at the feet of the staff mascot, Kernel Cobber, a “personified corncob” listed by Huffington Post as the country’s ninth strangest mascot. The campus surrounds a serene a bell tower. Its musical choices, from the “Twelve Days of Christmas,” includes five choirs, four bands, three jazz ensembles, two orchestras, two percussion ensembles and two handbell choirs. And one campus paper, which got itself in trouble with Powers That Be for publishing a story on drinking at campus events. It appeared the […]

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• Complaints filed over GSU e-mails

  September 23, 2010

  Grambling State University and the University of Louisiana System are consulting legal counsel about GSU’s e-mail policy after the ACLU of Louisiana and a nonpartisan educational foundation sent letters to the university saying the policy is unconstitutional and suppresses free speech. The educational foundation, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, was the first to send a letter to GSU President Frank Pogue after the university’s media relations office sent an e-mail to students on July 13 telling them not to forward campaign solicitations through university e-mail accounts because doing so could imply university support and violate state law. “Individuals […]

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• Grambling State University Bans Political E-Mails, Cites State Law

  September 22, 2010

  Weeks ahead of a crucial midterm election, a Grambling State University in Louisiana has banned its students and faculty members from forwarding “campaign solicitations” using the school’s e-mail system, contending it is a violation of Louisiana law because it would amount to an institutional “endorsement” of a campaign. Orders to withhold forwarding election-related e-mails were made in July, but when the public university’s school year started, free speech advocates and at least one political candidate questioned whether the policy would be withdrawn. “We would hope the university would make it clear what student involvement (in politics) should be,” said Robert […]

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• Free-Speech Advocates Challenge E-Mail Policies at Grambling State

  September 22, 2010

  Grambling State University, in responding to criticism of an e-mail policy that, it says, does not even exist, has ended up provoking a much bigger controversy over the policies it acknowledges having on the books. In denying complaints by free-speech advocacy groups that it had imposed unconstitutional restrictions on its students’ use of its e-mail system for political speech, Grambling cited on Wednesday its policies governing the use of its e-mail system by its employees. The advocacy groups ended up objecting to those far more. In a joint statement issued Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana and the […]

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• University bans political e-mails

  September 21, 2010

  Officials at Grambling State University in Grambling, La., have dispatched an e-mail to students warning them against forwarding certain political e-mails they may get on the school e-mail system, because they could violate “state policy.” The issue is being highlighted by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which monitors educational institutions for violations of civil rights. “As the national dialogue increasingly focuses on the upcoming elections, administrators at Grambling State have made the unconstitutional decision to shut down the conversation on campus,” said Robert Shibley, the organization’s senior vice president. “The First Amendment protects such core political expression, and […]

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• FIRE Releases Statement on Political Activity on Campus for 2012 Election Season, Following Censorship at Grambling State University and Other Colleges

  November 9, 2011

  With the 2012 election season getting underway, FIRE is reminding college students and faculty across the nation of their right to engage in political speech on campus. Today, FIRE releases an updated and expanded Policy Statement on Political Activity on Campus detailing the protection for political expression enjoyed by students and faculty at public and private colleges nationwide. Given the censorship of political speech FIRE witnessed during the 2008 and 2010 election seasons at universities such as Grambling State University (GSU), FIRE’s reminder is timely and necessary. Our policy statement details the freedom of political expression that students, student groups, […]

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• FIRE Releases Statement on Political Activity on Campus for 2012 Election Season, Following Censorship at Grambling State University and Other Colleges

  November 9, 2011

  PHILADELPHIA, November 9, 2011—As the 2012 election season begins, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is reminding college students and faculty across the nation of their right to engage in political speech on campus. FIRE today releases an updated and expanded Policy Statement on Political Activity on Campus detailing the protection for political expression enjoyed by students and faculty at public and private colleges nationwide. Given the censorship of political speech FIRE witnessed during the 2008 and 2010 election seasons at universities like Grambling State University (GSU), which prohibits students and faculty members from engaging in a wide […]

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• Adam Kissel Discusses Grambling State’s First Amendment Violations with The Pelican Institute

  October 20, 2010

  The Pelican Institute, a Louisiana-based public policy research organization, recently interviewed FIRE’s Adam Kissel about the ongoing violations of free speech at Grambling State University. Torch readers will remember that GSU circulated an e-mail notice to students prohibiting them from forwarding political e-mails through the gram.edu e-mail system if those e-mails “impl[y] your support” for a political candidate. GSU’s initial response to FIRE’s concerns revealed even more problems with GSU’s e-mail restrictions, prompting a joint statement from FIRE and the ACLU of Louisiana. The Pelican Institute’s article (which has been reprinted at The Daily Caller) offers a concise rundown of […]

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• Will Grambling State Respect Free Speech in Time to Make a Difference this Election Season?

  October 15, 2010

  Time is quickly running out for Grambling State University (GSU) to provide a meaningful response to FIRE’s and the ACLU of Louisiana’s (LA ACLU’s) entreaties to ensure the protection of political speech at GSU. FIRE’s first letter, Torch readers will remember, prompted a policy statement from GSU so troublesome—banning, among other things, “offensive comments” about “hair color”—that FIRE and the LA ACLU released a joint statement about it. We wrote a second time to GSU President Frank G. Pogue on October 1, urging his administration to correct this wayward policy. Pogue has now responded to FIRE’s letter, and I quote […]

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• Speech Code of the Month: Grambling State University

  October 4, 2010

  FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for October 2010: Grambling State University. Grambling State University (GSU) has an e-mail policy that bans “the creation or distribution of any disruptive or offensive messages, including offensive comments about race, gender, hair color, disabilities, age, sexual orientation, pornography, religious beliefs and practice, political beliefs, or national origin.” GSU employees who receive any such e-mails from other employees are instructed to “report the matter to their supervisor immediately.” This policy betrays any sense of a free marketplace of ideas at GSU, as FIRE explained on October 1 in a letter to GSU President Frank G. […]

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• Media Spotlight Intensifies on Grambling State University

  September 23, 2010

  By severely restricting political speech through e-mail, Grambling State University is in violation of the First Amendment—and local and national news outlets are now on the case. FIRE was the first to draw national attention to GSU’s misbehavior, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana (LA ACLU) seconded FIRE’s concerns with its own letter sent yesterday. GSU’s initial response was so lacking that FIRE and LA ACLU issued a joint statement yesterday bringing further First Amendment issues with GSU’s policies to light. FoxNews.com (whose coverage heavily informs a subsequent story in the New American) was among the first major […]

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• Grambling State University Response to FIRE, September 22, 2010

  September 22, 2010

  September 22, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                       Contact: Vanessa Littleton Phone (318) 533-5337 Email:  mediarelations@gram.edu   Grambling State University does not prohibit students or employees from political expression.  Our policy is as follows: Grambling State University Email Use Policy 1. Grambling State University email system shall not to be used for the creation or distribution of any disruptive or offensive messages, including offensive comments about race, gender, hair color, disabilities, age, sexual orientation, pornography, religious beliefs and practice, political beliefs, or national origin. Employees who receive any offensive emails with this content from any Grambling State University employee should report […]

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• FIRE and ACLU of Louisiana Release Joint Statement on Grambling State University’s Violations of First Amendment

  September 22, 2010

  As FIRE noted earlier today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana has echoed FIRE’s concerns over Grambling State University’s (GSU’s) unconstitutional restrictions on the use of university e-mail systems for political speech. GSU has now issued a wholly inadequate statement on the matter that reveals even deeper violations of First Amendment rights at GSU than previously thought. GSU’s response has prompted FIRE and the ACLU of Louisiana to release this joint statement: FIRE AND ACLU of LOUISIANA JOINT STATEMENT REGARDING GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY’S RESPONSE September 22, 2010 Grambling State University’s response to the concerns raised by the Foundation for […]

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• Grambling State University Bans Use of E-Mail for Core Political Expression

  September 16, 2010

  As the 2010 election season enters full swing, Grambling State University (GSU) is prohibiting its students and faculty members from engaging in a wide swath of constitutionally protected political expression. Today’s press release details that the Louisiana public university has forbidden students and faculty from transmitting any “campaign solicitations” via the university’s e-mail system, a ban that includes any message that “implies your support” for a political candidate. The case originated on July 13, when GSU’s Office of Media Relations e-mailed all students on campus that “Individuals who receive political campaign solicitations via university email are advised to delete these […]

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• Grambling State University Bans Use of E-Mail for Core Political Expression

  September 16, 2010

  GRAMBLING, La., September 16, 2010—As the 2010 election season enters full swing, Grambling State University (GSU) is prohibiting its students and faculty members from engaging in a wide swath of constitutionally protected political expression. The Louisiana public university has forbidden students and faculty from transmitting any “campaign solicitations” via the university’s e-mail system, a ban that includes any message that “implies your support” for a political candidate. Concerned students turned to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help. “As the national dialogue increasingly focuses on the upcoming elections, administrators at Grambling State have made the unconstitutional decision […]

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• At Grambling, Censorship of Student Paper After Publication of Controversial Pictures

  October 2, 2007

  Yesterday, Grambling State University (GSU) administrators began an investigation of The Gramblinite, the school’s student newspaper, after the paper published photos of young schoolchildren with a simulated noose around their necks. The children were being taught about racism and lynching in the wake of the publicity surrounding the “Jena Six” incident and the subsequent protests. Specifically, the paper posted several photos of the children with the noose to its website last week. After receiving a phone call from one of the paper’s advisers informing newspaper staff of the outraged reaction of some community and faculty members to the pictures, Editor-in-Chief […]

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• Grambling University Shuts Down Student Newspaper

  January 24, 2007

  The News-Star in Monroe, Louisiana reports that administrators at Grambling State University have shut down production of the school’s student newspaper, The Gramblinite, until the administration can guarantee greater “quality assurance” of the paper. University Provost Robert Dixon sent a memorandum to the newspaper staff informing them that the newspaper was “suspended for the remainder of the month of January.” Dixon later told student editor Darryl Smith that the paper was not suspended per se, but was also not allowed to publish any more issues until university officials could better control the paper’s quality. Smith said the administration has been […]

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