School Spotlight

Hamline University
Speech Code Rating
- At present, FIRE does not maintain information on this school's policies.
Hamline University: Student Suspended after Advocating Concealed Carry on Campus
May 29, 2007
Hamline University suspended a student after he sent an e-mail suggesting that the Virginia Tech massacre might have been stopped if students had been allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus. Student Troy Scheffler was required to undergo a mandatory “mental health evaluation” before being allowed to return to school. Scheffler was suspended without due… Read more
FIRE Launches New Video Series With Short Film on Censorship of Gun-Related Speech
June 30, 2010
PHILADELPHIA, June 30, 2010—Today, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is proud to release a new short film, “Empty Holsters: Gun Speech on America’s Campuses,” highlighting widespread campus censorship of student speech about guns. The film is the first in a new FIRE series focusing on how colleges and universities across America are… Read more
Rights in the News: FIRE Issues Get the Lou Dobbs Treatment
March 13, 2009
As Will wrote earlier in the week, FIRE has seen far too many instances of students’ First Amendment rights being thrown out the window when used to support Second Amendment rights. FIRE has been all over the news concerning the most recent instance of this, in which a student at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU)… Read more
Threats, Intimidation, and Free Speech
December 27, 2007
One of the compelling storylines to take away from this year involves a matter that is still fresh in many people’s minds and remains troubling to this day: the Virginia Tech shootings. The horrific events of that day may understandably send a chill down the spine of anyone who has a friend, significant other, child,… Read more
FIRE to Hamline: Stop Stonewalling
November 13, 2007
Last week, FIRE wrote Hamline University again to register our continuing disappointment with President Linda Hanson’s refusal to answer our concerns about the school’s unconscionable treatment of student Troy Scheffler, who was suspended by Hamline for advocating for the right to carry concealed weapons on campus. Our latest letter reiterates our grave concern about the… Read more
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… Read more
John Leo on FIRE and Free Speech
October 23, 2007
John Leo has an excellent article on Townhall.com discussing the status of free speech on our nation’s college campuses. In the article, Leo highlights the case of Troy Scheffler at Hamline University, who was suspended for suggesting in an e-mail to an administrator that students should be permitted to carry concealed weapons on campus.
Hamline Case on the Radio This Afternoon
October 19, 2007
Looking for more information on our case at Hamline University? Listen online to Minneapolis/St. Paul talk radio station 830-WCCO AM at 2:10 p.m. CST (3:10 Eastern) for an interview with FIRE’s Vice President Robert Shibley with more details on this case!
Wendy Kaminer on Hamline Case
October 11, 2007
Check out FIRE Board of Advisors member Wendy Kaminer’s blog post on our case over at Hamline University: Hamline University prides itself on its commitment to diversity. Its website boasts that “Hamline’s five schools have more than 4,500 students, and each one of these students is different …Hamline isn’t a place where you ‘fit in,’… Read more
FIRE Discussing Hamline Case on the Radio This Afternoon
October 11, 2007
FIRE Vice President Robert Shibley will be on Vicki McKenna’s Madison, Wisconsin, radio show this afternoon at 4 p.m. ET to discuss our case at Hamline University, where a student was suspended and sentenced to mandatory psychological evaluations after advocating the use of concealed weapons on campus in the context of the Virginia Tech shootings…. Read more
Hamline Responds to FIRE’s Press Release
October 11, 2007
A friend in the media forwarded us the following response from Hamline to yesterday’s press release about Hamline student Troy Scheffler. It is very brief, so I will quote it in full: Hamline has never suspended a student for advocating for gun rights or for any other rights. The FIRE organization has inaccurately portrayed Hamline’s… Read more
Hamline University Student Suspended After Advocating Concealed Carry for Students
October 10, 2007
ST. PAUL, Minn., October 10, 2007—Hamline University has suspended a student after he sent an e-mail suggesting that the Virginia Tech massacre might have been stopped if students had been allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus. Student Troy Scheffler is now required to undergo a mandatory “mental health evaluation” before being allowed to return… Read more
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