School Spotlight
Hampton University
Speech Code Rating
- At present, FIRE does not maintain information on this school's policies.
Hampton University: Gay and Lesbian Student Group Denied Recognition Without Explanation
February 7, 2007
For the second time in two years, Hampton University inexplicably denied official recognition to students seeking to start a gay and lesbian group on campus. The group, Students Promoting Equality, Action and Knowledge (SPEAK), contacted FIRE, which wrote a letter to Hampton on urging the university to recognize SPEAK or provide an adequate explanation for… Read more
Hampton University: Punishment of Students for Literature Distribution
December 1, 2005
Hampton University students were not allowed to pass out literature on campus without university consent. After a student group was punished for handing out anti-Bush literature, FIRE sent a letter to Hampton, asking them to reaffirm their commitments to the First Amendment. Hampton decided not to expel the students but they were still sentenced to… Read more
Playboy’s ‘Smoking Jacket’ Covers Censorship on Campus
December 2, 2013
In a new article, Playboy’s website The Smoking Jacket highlights memorable examples of censorship of sexually themed speech on college campuses. The (safe-for-work!) article features eight examples from American universities and an example from an Australian university, including several from FIRE’s archives. Who could forget the 2011 incident at East Carolina University where the school fired a student newspaper advisor after the… Read more
FIRE Quarterly: ‘From the Board of Directors’
May 31, 2007
In a new column in our most recent issue of The FIRE Quarterly (available here), Virginia Postrel, a member of our Board of Directors, explored FIRE’s efforts to ensure freedom of association for students at both public and private universities. She wrote: Like dorm bull sessions, affiliating with campus groups helps young people define… Read more
Still Waiting for Answers from Hampton
March 6, 2007
Hampton University’s denial of recognition to a gay and lesbian student group remains shrouded in mystery, with the administration’s behavior growing increasingly bizarre. On the one hand, Hampton’s Director of University Relations issued the following statement about student organizations: Hampton University has a moratorium on all new student organizations except when there is a vacancy…. Read more
The Importance of Truth in Advertising
February 27, 2007
Here at FIRE, when we talk about the obligations of private universities to protect students’ individual rights, what we most often talk about is the importance of truth in advertising. As private institutions, private colleges and universities have the right to define themselves as they see fit. However, once a university defines itself in a… Read more
‘Inside Higher Ed,’ ‘Richmond Times-Dispatch’ Cover Hampton Case
February 26, 2007
Inside Higher Ed has an article today concisely summarizing FIRE’s latest case at Hampton University, where a gay and lesbian student group—Students Promoting Equality, Action and Knowledge (SPEAK)—was denied recognition with no explanation. The article says in part: The university’s code of conduct states that the university will “support equal rights and opportunities for all… Read more
Hampton University Says ‘No’ to Gay and Lesbian Student Group
February 22, 2007
Students at Hampton University have been trying to start a gay and lesbian group for as long as current students can remember. The university denied a group in the 2004-2005 school year, and this past December Hampton shot down Students Promoting Education, Action and Knowledge (SPEAK). As our press release today explains, SPEAK was given… Read more
Hampton University Denies Recognition to Gay and Lesbian Student Group Without Explanation
February 22, 2007
HAMPTON, Va., February 22, 2007—For the second time in two years, Hampton University has inexplicably denied official recognition to students seeking to start a gay and lesbian group on campus. The group, Students Promoting Equality, Action and Knowledge (SPEAK), contacted the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which is calling on Hampton to either… Read more
Hampton’s at It Again
January 10, 2006
Sunday’s Hampton Roads Daily Press features a letter from Bennie G. McMorris, the vice president of student affairs at Hampton University. Back in November, FIRE intervened when Hampton prosecuted students who dared to stand in Hampton’s student center at lunch time and hand out flyers about progressive social issues while talking to interested students. The… Read more
Hampton Administrators Need a Civics Lesson
December 12, 2005
Recently at Hampton University, seven students were punished for distributing anti-Bush flyers without the approval of the university administration. As discussed in FIRE’s Guide to Free Speech on Campus, private universities generally have broad discretion when establishing policies that restrict speech on campus. But this power is not always unchecked. State constitutions usually take… Read more
Treating Students as Adults? What a Concept!
December 12, 2005
Roger Chesley has an excellent editorial in today’s Virginian-Pilot about FIRE’s case at Hampton University—where, you will recall, several students were threatened with expulsion for daring to hold an anti-Bush protest. Here’s how it begins: For an institution so heavily preoccupied with its image, Hampton University administrators continue to step into public relations nightmares. If… Read more
Hampton Doesn’t Go Far Enough
December 6, 2005
Seven Hampton University students endured disciplinary hearings last Friday after they distributed anti-Bush literature to the student community in an attempt to raise awareness of issues such as the crisis in Iraq and genocide in the Sudan. Hampton had threatened the students with expulsion for “cajoling,” “proselytizing,” and distributing unauthorized materials. After protests from FIRE… Read more
Partial Victory for Free Speech at Hampton
December 6, 2005
HAMPTON, Va., December 6, 2005—Hampton University in Virginia has decided not to expel at least five of seven students for passing out anti-Bush flyers without university approval. Hampton students’ ability to pass out literature without university censorship was the subject of a letter sent by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) to Hampton… Read more
College News Roundup
December 5, 2005
[Note: This Columbia Spectator article incorrectly idenitified Hampton University as “Howard University.”] [Hampton] University heard the case of seven students charged with distributing unauthorized flyers, holding an unapproved protest, and proselytizing to students on Friday morning. The university will announce how it plans to punish these students next week, though five of them have already… Read more
The Moment of Truth at Hampton University
December 1, 2005
On November 2, students at colleges across the country protested the war in Iraq by walking out of classes. Some students at Hampton University, however, thought that it would be more responsible to provide their fellow students with information on issues they consider important. So at noon, about 20 students gathered in the Student Center… Read more