Indian River State College

Location: Fort Pierce, Florida
Website: http://www.irsc.edu
Type: No Type Yet
Federal Circuit: 11th Circuit

Speech Code Rating

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  • Indian River Community College: Ban on ‘The Passion of the Christ’ and Repression of Free Speech

    December 16, 2004

    Indian River Community College prohibited the Christian Student Fellowship, a campus student group, from hosting a screening of The Passion of the Christ. The group contacted FIRE, which lobbied the administration and launched a media campaign exposing the school’s policies. Thereafter, the school denounced it actions, admitting to employing double-standards in its policies. The student group was allowed to show the movie thanks to FIRE’s successful involvement.

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Red Light Policies

  • Student Handbook: Harassment/Discrimination 09-10

    Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies, Statement
    Last updated: December 15, 2013

    Access on Indian River State College computer equipment of
    materials of a sexual or ethnically derogatory nature is in violation of
    the College policy on harassment which assures a positive learning
    environment. Violation may result in disciplinary action.

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Yellow Light Policies

  • Student Handbook: Student Standards of Conduct 09-10

    Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility, Statement
    Last updated: December 12, 2013

    Misconduct for which students are subject to
    discipline falls into the following categories:
    ...
    Disorderly conduct or lewd, indecent, or obscene conduct or
    expression on College-owned property or at College-supervised
    functions.

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Green Light Policies

  • The Chill Is Nothing New

    September 9, 2005

    There is a chill on campus, but that’s nothing new. For decades, campus speech has been chilled by speech codes and other attempts to prevent expression that might offend. Some would like to imagine that the excesses of “political correctness” are ancient history, but repression in the name of tolerance hasn’t gone anywhere. Oppressive speech codes are not only still around—they have actually multiplied, even after numerous court decisions declared them unconstitutional. Within the past year, college students have been punished for such things as expressing a religious objection to homosexuality and arguing that corporal punishment may be acceptable. Students […]

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  • 10 great cigars and why I smoked them

    June 13, 2005

    By Mike Adams at Townhall.com For years, communism has been preventing me from enjoying a lot of good cigars. That used to bother me, until I found a way around the problem. As many of my readers know, there are more communists teaching on the average American campus than there are teaching in all of Cuba. And, of course, these communist professors do a lot of stupid things, most of which violate the United States Constitution. I have learned that fighting American communist professors is fun, largely because they are so easy to beat when challenged. That’s why I smoke […]

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  • Conservatives Censored on College Campuses? Free Speech Movement Finds New Group of Supporters

    February 1, 2005

    When Christian students at Indian River Community College asked to host a screening of “The Passion of the Christ,” administrators at first rejected the idea because of the film’s R rating. At the campus theater weeks later, however, another student performed a monologue in which she described performing sexual acts before the image of Jesus. “That hurt, that shocked and I did take that kinda offensive,” said Christina Koshi, a member of Indian River’s Christian student fellowship. Demarr Bell, another member of the group, said he thinks it is a case of discrimination against Christians. College administrators say there was […]

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  • The Passion of the Censor

    January 31, 2005

      TO: Edwin R. Massey, President, Indian River Community College: 772.462.4701 CC: Johnny Moore, VP of Student Affairs: 772.462.7788; jmoore@ircc.edu   Dear President Massey:   When I first heard your college had prevented a Christian student group from showing the film The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson, I was taken aback. When I learned your college had previously hosted a live performance entitled “F*****g for Jesus,” I was disgusted by your school’s double standard. Now that I have learned administrators at your school yanked college students out of class demanding an apology for merely protesting your censorship, I […]

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  • The Troubling Resurgence of the ‘Heckler’s Veto’

    January 26, 2005

    Character assassination too often replaces compelling argument to rebut disfavored expression, especially Christian expression, in the public square. And when aided by government suppression, the 1st Amendment is the ultimate victim. Heckle means to “harass and try to disconcert with questions, challenges, or gibes.” A heckler is someone apparently incapable of articulating an intelligent argument using facts and logic when facing someone with whom he disagrees. Quite often, scurrilous name-calling and imputing malicious motives to opponents are thrown in for good measure. Hecklers often turn to government to silence politically disfavored speech by means of the “Heckler’s Veto.” When a […]

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  • Academic Freedom Group Charges Fla. College Violated Students’ Rights

    January 24, 2005

    A Florida community college is being accused of employing a shameful double standard after banning Mel Gibson’s 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ, from being shown on campus. Officials at Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce recently barred the Christian student fellowship on campus from screening The Passion, citing an unwritten school policy against R-rated movies. But now comes word that IRCC approved a screening of the R-rated documentary film, Welcome to Sarajevo, at a college-sponsored event last year.   Dr. Johnny Moore, IRCC’s Vice President for Student Affairs, claims the other film was allowed since it was […]

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  • College Criticized For Banning Movie

    January 23, 2005

    FORT PIERCE – A community college is drawing criticism for banning a Christian student organization from showing the controversial Mel Gibson movie “The Passion of the Christ.”   Indian River Community College officials defended the decision, saying they were following a long-standing practice banning student groups from airing R-rated films.   The rule aims to protect underage students attending the college under its dual-enrollment program with local high schools, said Johnny Moore, IRCC vice president of student affairs. “The decision … had nothing to do with the movie’s religious context,” Moore said. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or […]

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  • Fla. College Criticized for ‘Passion’ Ban

    January 20, 2005

    FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A community college is drawing criticism for banning a Christian student organization from showing the film “The Passion of the Christ.” Indian River Community College officials defended the decision, saying they were following a long-standing practice — but one not written into policy — banning student groups from airing R-rated films. “They say we’re in college now, that we’re all adults. But now they’re saying this movie is too graphic,” said Christeena Koshy, a 20-year-old nursing student and a member of Christian Student Fellowship. “They’re acting like we’re little kids.” The Foundation for Individual Rights in […]

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  • Civil liberties group denounces ‘Passion’ ban

    January 20, 2005

    FORT PIERCE, Fla. – A community college is drawing criticism for banning a Christian student organization from showing the film “The Passion of the Christ.”   Indian River Community College officials defended the decision, saying they were following a long-standing practice — but one not written into policy — banning student groups from airing R-rated films.   “They say we’re in college now, that we’re all adults. But now they’re saying this movie is too graphic,” said Christeena Koshy, a 20-year-old nursing student and a member of Christian Student Fellowship. “They’re acting like we’re little kids.”   The Foundation for […]

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  • Religious group, IRCC spar over ban of ‘Passion’

    January 19, 2005

    FORT PIERCE — A national civil-liberties group said it will sue Indian River Community College if it does not allow a campus Christian group to show the R-rated movie The Passion of the Christ and reverse a new rule that restricts the activities of the Christian fellowship club on campus.   “The college is fundamentally violating the group’s First Amendment rights,” David French, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said Tuesday. “There’s nothing to examine or conclude otherwise.”   The college maintains that the group, Christian Student Fellowship, was banned from showing the film because it is […]

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  • Firm to review IRCC’s policies on student groups

    January 19, 2005

    FORT PIERCE — In response to an on-campus Christian club’s cries of censorship after it was prohibited from showing the controversial Mel Gibson film “The Passion of the Christ,” Indian River Community College officials announced Tuesday they would conduct a thorough review of policies regarding student groups.   The review will be conducted by constitutional attorney Sid McKenzie of the Holland and Knight law firm, based in Tampa. IRCC officials said they would give McKenzie as much time as needed to review the campus’ policies for potential legal landmines.   “The review will last as long as it needs to […]

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  • IRCC defends not screening ‘Passion’

    January 18, 2005

    FORT PIERCE — Today, officials at Indian River Community College will announce a review of their policies on student organizations and events after a Christian club complained to a national academic-freedom watchdog group that the college had stepped on its constitutional rights.   Two months after the Christian Fellowship Club was banned from showing the controversial Mel Gibson movie “The Passion of the Christ,” administrators are scheduled to conduct a press conference justifying why.   The explanation follows recent accusations from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which is criticizing the college for trampling on the student group’s rights […]

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  • College Bans Gibson’s Passion — but Allows Blasphemous, Sexualized Skit

    January 17, 2005

    A Florida college has prohibited a Christian student group from showing the film The Passion of the Christ. The same school once hosted a live performance that included an obscene reading that involved a character simulating sex with an image of Christ.   Administrators at Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce initially told the Christian Student Fellowship that Mel Gibson’s film was too controversial. Later the school cited a school policy that bars the showing of R-rated movies on campus. Johnny Moore, IRCC’s vice president for student affairs, says the school’s decision was based on ratings — not religion. […]

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  • Fla. College Bans Gibson’s ‘Passion’

    January 14, 2005

    Florida’s Indian River Community College (IRCC) is engaging in a campaign of repression against a Christian student group for attempting to show Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” on campus.   In November 2004, the college banned the Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) from showing the film because it was R-rated, despite the fact that the college has hosted a live performance entitled “F**king for Jesus” that describes simulated sex with “the risen Christ.”   CSF students report that after their group wrote President Edwin R. Massey in protest, administrators pulled group leaders out of class and, astoundingly, demanded an […]

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  • This Month in FIRE History: Florida College Bans ‘The Passion of the Christ’

    January 29, 2009

    In ten years, FIRE has seen astounding double standards at work on campuses across the country. However, even we were shocked by our case at Indian River Community College (IRCC) in January 2005, one of the worst cases of hypocrisy FIRE has ever seen. The case began when IRCC prevented the Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) from advertising and holding a viewing of the film The Passion of the Christ. IRCC justified its action by stating that the film was “R-rated” and “controversial,” but FIRE didn’t have to look hard to find evidence that the school had hosted R-rated films in […]

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  • The Good, the Bad, and the Just Plain Silly

    October 18, 2006

    As a free speech organization, we see pretty much every type of censorship out there. People are frequently censored at colleges and universities for engaging in controversial political speech. Other times, people are censored for engaging in speech that is crude and repugnant, but that is wholly protected. And then there are times that people seem to be censored for no reason at all. Today’s case at Marquette University is one of those instances. In the spirit of levity, here are a few more of the silliest instances of censorship we’ve seen here at FIRE: Gonzaga University tried to punish […]

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  • The Most Despicable Double Standard of 2005

    December 27, 2005

    As FIRE reflects on the events of the past twelve months, it seems to me it might be appropriate to recognize the one university whose disgraceful mistreatment of liberty included the most blatant double standard of the year. And in my humble opinion, that distinction goes to Florida’s Indian River Community College, whose feigned prudery meant a little Mel Gibson was just too much for its students to handle, but a play called “F**king for Jesus” was okay.   It seems like centuries ago now, but IRCC made national headlines at the very beginning of 2005 for banning a campus […]

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  • Nontraditional Students

    August 18, 2005

    One of the more interesting aspects of our case submissions is that a disproportionately high number come from “nontraditional” students—those students who are older, married, or often have substantial work experience. Many of our more sensational and egregious cases—including the recent ban on showing The Passion of the Christ at a college in Florida, Scott McConnell’s expulsion from Le Moyne College in New York, Bill Felkner’s troubles at Rhode Island College, and Jihad Daniel’s case at William Paterson University—have involved students in their thirties, forties, and (in Daniel’s case) sixties.   I think there is a good reason for this […]

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  • ‘Derecognition’ Revisited

    February 18, 2005

    Adding to Wednesday’s discussion about recognition of student organizations, a reader commented: Also, there’s the famous method of “unrecognition”—intimidating enough of the faculty so that no one is willing to be the advisor. Take a look at the case at Indian River Community College, where administrators had instituted an illogical policy requiring that faculty advisors be present at every student organization meeting or event. The Christian Student Fellowship (CSF), which normally would meet several times a week, lost its faculty advisor when he was unable to fulfill the unreasonable new requirement and therefore forced to resign. CSF’s ability to officially […]

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  • College Revamps Policy After Banning The Passion

    February 4, 2005

    (AgapePress) – A Florida community college says it will no longer bar a Christian student group from showing the film The Passion of the Christ. The move comes after a prominent civil rights group exposed inconsistencies in school policy. In addition to dropping its unwritten ban on R-rated movies, the school has also dumped a policy that required a faculty member to be present at all student group events.   The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) had criticized Indian River Community College (IRCC) in Ft. Pierce for banning Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, even though it […]

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  • Fort Pierce college will allow ‘The Passion of the Christ’ shown

    February 3, 2005

    FORT PIERCE, Fla. A community college threatened with a civil liberties lawsuit for refusing a campus screening of “The Passion of the Christ” will allow the movie to be shown. Indian River Community College officials announced Wednesday that they will lift the college’s ban on campus groups showing R-rated movies. A 12-member committee will review all student groups’ requests to determine whether they are appropriate. The change will reverse a decision last fall that banned the Christian Student Fellowship club from showing the Mel Gibson movie. “We want to make sure those wanting to express their ideas are able to […]

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  • Editorial: Contrary to news report, IRCC doesn’t fit politically correct model

    February 3, 2005

    ABC’s “World News Tonight” claimed in a nationally televised segment Tuesday that Indian River Community College is among institutions of higher learning that suppress politically conservative speech on their campuses. The allegation is unjust on several fronts.   Broadcasting from the IRCC campus in Fort Pierce, the segment entitled “Conservatives censored on college campuses?” based its allegation on the school’s refusal, under an existing policy, to allow a campus group to screen an R-rated movie for other students.   Under most circumstances, it might be assumed that protest of that decision would be based on a liberal viewpoint. But, in […]

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  • Christian group at IRCC can show ‘Passion’ film

    February 3, 2005

    FORT PIERCE—Under threat of a civil-liberties lawsuit, Indian River Community College officials announced Wednesday that they will lift the college’s ban on campus groups showing R-rated movies.   The change will enable a Christian student club to show The Passion of the Christ, which the college barred the club from showing on campus last fall because of its R rating.   At the same time, IRCC officials said they will continue to set an “appropriate atmosphere” on campus by requiring all student activities requests to be reviewed by a 12-member committee. This committee — which would include a student member […]

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  • IRCC reverses ban on showing R-rated films

    February 3, 2005

    FORT PIERCE — Indian River Community College has dropped a policy banning student groups from showing R-rated films after a legal review found it violated the First Amendment, school officials said Wednesday. IRCC ordered the review last month after a national students’ rights organization threatened to sue the college for “clear and basic constitutional violations” for preventing the Christian Student Fellowship from showing “The Passion of the Christ” on campus.   Members of the Christian group first challenged IRCC’s policy in November. But it wasn’t until students contacted the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education that the college moved to […]

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  • College To Allow Screening Of Controversial Movie

    February 3, 2005

    FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A Fort Pierce community college will show the movie “The Passion of the Christ.”   Indian River Community College officials said they would lift the college’s ban on campus groups showing R-rated movies. They had been threatened with a civil liberties lawsuit when they refused to show the film on campus.   The change reverses a decision last fall that banned the Christian Student Fellowship club from showing the Mel Gibson movie.     The students who wanted to show the movie said they thought the ban was discriminatory against Christians, and that it stepped on […]

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  • Indian River Community College reverses ban on screening of Passion of the Christ

    February 3, 2005

    FORT PIERCE — A community college threatened with a civil liberties lawsuit for refusing a campus screening of “The Passion of the Christ” will allow the movie to be shown. Indian River Community College officials announced Wednesday that they will lift the college’s ban on campus groups showing R-rated movies. A 12-member committee will review all student groups’ requests to determine whether they are appropriate. The change will reverse a decision last fall that banned the Christian Student Fellowship club from showing the Mel Gibson movie. “We want to make sure those wanting to express their ideas are able to […]

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  • The Resurrection of the Passion

    February 3, 2005

    Dear President Massey, Indian River Community College (IRCC):   You cannot imagine how excited I was to read your recent press release stating that “(IRCC) is strongly committed to fulfilling its responsibility to strike an appropriate balance between maintaining an effective, orderly learning environment and protecting the rights of (IRCC) students.” I was also thrilled to read that IRCC decided to consult a Constitutional attorney to review your policies and procedures as they relate to student activities and events on your campus.   Your attorney’s determination that your policies concerning student activities “had not been interpreted and applied consistently throughout […]

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  • TCoast college lifts ban on R-rated movies

    February 2, 2005

    Under threat of a lawsuit by a civil-liberties group, Indian River Community College announced today that it will lift its ban on R-rated movies from being shown by campus groups.   By doing so, a Christian student club will be allowed to show the controversial “The Passion of the Christ,” which the college denied the club from showing on campus in December.   “We want to have a campus where everyone feels comfortable here,” HenriSue Bynum, associate dean of arts and science, said this afternoon. “We want to make sure those wanting to express their ideas are able to do […]

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  • Victory for Free Speech at Indian River Community College

    February 2, 2005

    FORT PIERCE, Fla., February 2, 2005—In a statement issued yesterday evening, Florida ’s Indian River Community College (IRCC) overturned its prohibition on a student-organized screening of The Passion of the Christ.IRCC made the decision after the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) took the case of the Christian Student Fellowship (CSF), which wanted to show the film, to the national media.IRCC’s statement confirmed that the college had not enforced its policies on public expression consistently and according to constitutional guidelines.Late last week, CSF also reported that IRCC has rescinded its authoritarian requirement that a faculty advisor monitor all student […]

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  • IRCC blows its lines

    January 21, 2005

    Indian River Community College administrators owe their students at least one plausible explanation for refusing to allow a campus Christian group to show The Passion of the Christ. So far, the college has come up only with embarrassing cover stories.   The college has maintained that the group, Christian Student Fellowship, could not show the movie because its R rating violates school rules. But it turns out that IRCC has no written rules on movie standards. Administrators said they were following something called “long-standing practice” that guided student organizations for years. If IRCC is being run by unwritten rules, the […]

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  • Ban on ‘The Passion of the Christ’ Continues as New Double Standards Are Revealed

    January 19, 2005

    FORT PIERCE, Fla., January 19, 2005—Florida’s Indian River Community College (IRCC), which recently prohibited The Passion of the Christ from being shown on campus, has admitted that last year it approved a screening of the R-rated documentary film Welcome to Sarajevo at a college-sponsored event.  This information contradicts the college’s claim to have banned all R-rated movies—an unwritten policy that it used to justify its decision to prohibit the Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) from screening The Passion of the Christ.  The admission also undermines the college’s claim that allowing a skit called “F**king for Jesus” to be performed on campus […]

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  • Florida College Bans ‘The Passion of the Christ’; Launches Campaign Against Free Speech

    January 14, 2005

    FORT PIERCE, Fla., January 14, 2005—Florida’s Indian River Community College (IRCC) is engaging in a campaign of repression against a Christian student group for attempting to show Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ on campus.  In November 2004, the college banned the Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) from showing the film because it was R-rated, despite the fact that the college has hosted a live performance entitled “F**king for Jesus” that describes simulated sex with “the risen Christ.”  CSF students report that after their group wrote President Edwin R. Massey in protest, administrators pulled group leaders out of class and, […]

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