School Spotlight

Louisiana State University – Baton Rouge

Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Type: Public
Tell Louisiana State University – Baton Rouge to revise its speech policies by filling out this form.

Speech Code Rating

Louisiana State University – Baton Rouge has been given the speech code rating Red. A red light university has at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech. Read more
This school has adopted the chicago statement for free speech. This school has adopted the chicago statement for free speech. This school has adopted the chicago statement for free speech.

Campus Climate

Overall Ranking

out of 55 colleges surveyed Read more
53

  • University Policy 95.02: Sexual Harassment of Students

    Speech Code Rating: Red
    Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
    Last updated: August 21, 2020

    Sexual harassment: is a form of unlawful sexual discrimination. It is defined as unwelcome verbal, visual, or physical behavior of a sexual nature. It can also include unwelcome gender-based conduct. … Hostile environment sexual harassment: is unwelcome verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature or gender-b... Read More

  • Computer Users’ Responsibilities

    Speech Code Rating: Red
    Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
    Last updated: August 21, 2020

    Specifically, each user of computing resources shall NOT: … Utilize computing resources, including the Internet and/or e-mail, to access, create, transmit, print, or download material that is defamatory, obscene, fraudulent, harassing (including uninvited amorous or sexual messages), threatening, incites viole... Read More

  • Living On Campus Handbook: Decorations

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
    Last updated: August 21, 2020

    Decorations on the door of rooms are subject to approval by the Department of Residential Life Read More

  • LSU Cares: Bias or Discrimination Incident Report

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
    Last updated: August 21, 2020

    If you witness or experience conduct that discriminates, stereotypes, marginalizes, excludes, harasses or harms anyone in our community based on their identity (such as race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age or religion) please report it to th... Read More

  • Code of Student Conduct: Misconduct- Behavioral Misconduct

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
    Last updated: August 21, 2020

    A Student or RSO may be charged with Behavioral Misconduct for any of the following acts or omissions: … … Repeated, persistent, severe, or pervasive action directed toward a specific individual or individuals with the intent or effect to harass, harm, or alarm, through oral, written, graphic, physical, ... Read More

  • Permanent Memorandum 79: Freedom of Speech and Expression

    Speech Code Rating: Green
    Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
    Last updated: August 21, 2020

    The “Public Areas” of Campus mean all Outdoor Areas. The “Outdoor Areas” mean outside areas generally accessible to the majority of students, administrators, faculty, and staff such as grassy areas, walkways, or other similar common areas, but do not include University facilities, the interior of buildings or areas ... Read More

  • Living On Campus Handbook: Harassment

    Speech Code Rating: Green
    Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
    Last updated: August 21, 2020

    Activity (verbal, written, graphic, and/or physical) that is threatening in nature or any form of harassment is prohibited. Read More

  • Permanent Memorandum No. 73: Title IX and Sexual Misconduct Policy

    Speech Code Rating: Green
    Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
    Last updated: August 21, 2020

    Sexual Harassment Conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following: … Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the education program or activity; … Read More

  • Registered Student Organization Handbook: Peaceful Assembly

    Speech Code Rating: Green
    Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
    Last updated: August 21, 2020

    Peaceful assemblies by student organizations are not required to be scheduled or registered with the Office of the Dean of Students via TigerLink unless the event meets one or more of the following criteria: The event will be held in a University facility, the interior of a building or other area where access is re... Read More

FIRE surveyed roughly 20,000 students at 55 colleges and universities about the climate for free speech at their institutions. In 2020, FIRE released rankings of those schools, based on a number of factors, including openness, tolerance, self-expression, administrative support for free speech, and campus policies, scoring overall speech climate on a scale from -4-100. See the full report on FIRE’s 2020 College Free Speech Rankings for more information.

 

Rankings / out of 55 colleges surveyed
Overall Ranking 53
Ranked by Liberals 53
Ranked by Conservatives 43
Ideological Diversity 7

Overall / out of a top score of 100
Overall Score 47.9
Openness 59.8
Tolerance 53.2
Administrative Support 69.9
Self-Expression 32.1
Speech Code RED

  • University of Missouri clarifies that RAs can speak about Coronavirus — but Louisiana State University remains silent

    September 4, 2020

    Last month, as many universities and colleges across the country prepared for an influx of students to campus for the fall semester, residential advisors from at least two universities reported that their institutions had directed them not to speak to the press. As FIRE explained in letters to the University of Missouri and Louisiana State… Read more

  • Reports: RAs told not to speak to media as students return amidst coronavirus pandemic

    August 14, 2020

    As students begin to physically return to institutions conducting in-person classes this fall, troubling reports have emerged that some universities are directing student employees not to speak to reporters, including student journalists. Today, FIRE wrote to the University of Missouri and Louisiana State University seeking clarification about these reports and explaining that public institutions cannot… Read more

  • Why a decade-old LSU faculty case matters in the age of COVID-19

    April 22, 2020

    Walk through any university campus and odds are you’ll be unsettled by its quietness, as students nationwide have been sent home in an effort to fight the spread of COVID-19. And yet universities are very much on the front lines in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic ― in particular through their hospitals, health systems… Read more

  • Supreme Court denies cert in Buchanan v. Alexander

    October 22, 2019

    Yesterday brought bad news for academic freedom from the Supreme Court, which turned down former Louisiana State University education professor Teresa Buchanan’s petition for certiorari in Buchanan v. Alexander.  Buchanan, who was fired by LSU in June 2015 for allegedly violating the university’s sexual harassment policy — over the contrary recommendation of a faculty panel… Read more

  • Teresa Buchanan appeals district court ruling on her termination from LSU

    February 1, 2018

    Former Louisiana State University professor Teresa Buchanan filed a notice of appeal yesterday, seeking review of a ruling from the the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana dismissing her claims against her former employer over her firing. Buchanan is seeking review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit… Read more

  • Federal district court rules against fired LSU professor Teresa Buchanan

    January 11, 2018

    Yesterday, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana issued a ruling in the case of Buchanan v. Alexander. The court granted summary judgment to the defendants, Louisiana State University President F. King Alexander and three top administrators. Former LSU education professor Teresa Buchanan, who was fired by LSU in June 2015… Read more

  • Louisiana State University suspends free speech and freedom of assembly “until further notice”

    September 27, 2017

    News has been trickling out of Louisiana State University, where a student’s tragic death is being used by the administration to justify clamping down on the fundamental rights of its students, including freedom of speech and assembly. Some of those unconstitutional restrictions have been relaxed, while most remain in place indefinitely. Following the death of… Read more

  • Louisiana State University’s Faculty Senate Adopts Chicago Statement

    February 23, 2016

    Louisiana State University’s (LSU’s) faculty senate adopted a resolution yesterday affirming its commitment to free speech on campus. The group’s vote makes LSU the tenth institution at which faculty or administrators have formally endorsed the University of Chicago’s policy statement on freedom of expression, which FIRE has promoted as the gold standard for speech policy… Read more

  • FIRE’s Will Creeley in ‘The Wall Street Journal’: How the Sexual Harassment Cops Became Speech Police

    February 20, 2016

    In this weekend’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, FIRE’s Will Creeley explains why those of us who care about free speech on campus should watch closely Teresa Buchanan’s recently filed civil rights lawsuit against Louisiana State University (LSU). Buchanan’s lawsuit against LSU, filed last month with FIRE’s help, followed her firing over her alleged… Read more

  • FIRE Announces 10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech: 2016

    February 17, 2016

    PHILADELPHIA, February 17, 2016—Nearly half of America’s top colleges maintain speech codes that blatantly violate First Amendment standards. But every year the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) takes a closer look at the past year’s incidents of college censorship to determine the nation’s 10 worst abusers of student and faculty free speech rights…. Read more

  • Teresa Buchanan Uncensored: How an Innovative Educator Created Top Teachers and Got Fired for It

    January 22, 2016

    Teresa Buchanan meant business. It was 2002, and as one of the nation’s top early childhood education scholars at Louisiana State University (LSU), Buchanan had been tasked with starting a program for student teachers. One of its goals was to prepare LSU undergraduates to help fix Louisiana’s failing public school system. It was a job… Read more

  • On Day of FIRE Lawsuit, LSU Faculty Introduce Resolution to Adopt ‘Chicago Principles’

    January 21, 2016

    On the heels of the announcement this morning of a FIRE-sponsored lawsuit by fired Louisiana State University (LSU) professor Teresa Buchanan against top LSU administrators, the LSU Faculty Senate will introduce a resolution to adopt a version of the “Chicago Principles” affirming the faculty’s commitment to free speech. The resolution will be introduced this afternoon… Read more

  • Fired LSU Professor Files First Amendment Lawsuit Challenging Speech Code Championed by Feds

    January 21, 2016

    LSU claimed professor’s teaching methods violated sexual harassment policy that mirrors “blueprint” language proposed by U.S. Depts of Education, Justice “LSU said I offended some people, called it sexual harassment, and fired me.” Civil liberties advocates warned the policy threatened free speech on campus Professor asks court to strike down LSU policy as unconstitutional, reverse… Read more

  • University Training Programs Can Misinform, Fail to Protect

    December 30, 2015

    2015 has been a landmark year for student activism, including for those demanding more attention be paid to the issue of rape and sexual assault on college campuses. Although this activism has helped shine light on an important issue, many of the responses by universities have undermined students’ rights in critical ways. While FIRE has… Read more

  • It’s Already Been a Remarkably Bad Year for Student Press

    October 21, 2015

    Many student journalists are being taught an unfortunate lesson by college administrators and their fellow students lately: Don’t publish anything that might offend anyone. That this advice is antithetical to a free press on campus, and that journalists cannot be held responsible for how their readers react to opinions they publish, doesn’t seem to matter… Read more

  • LSU Law Center’s Diversity Task Force Mulls Prior Restraint, Administrative Oversight of Student Newspaper

    October 12, 2015

    Louisiana State University’s (LSU’s) Law Center is weighing measures to improve “quantitative and qualitative diversity” amongst its student body, The College Fix reports. One suggestion posed by the university’s Diversity Task Force: ridding themselves of the free press. In a report submitted to the law school late last month, the task force—selected last year by… Read more

  • Faculty Senate Censures LSU President for Firing Tenured Professor

    October 8, 2015

    This past June, Louisiana State University (LSU) President F. King Alexander fired tenured associate professor Teresa Buchanan for sexual harassment, ignoring a faculty panel that unanimously recommended that she keep her job. As has been reported here on The Torch and elsewhere, Professor Buchanan’s transgression (if one can call it that) was to occasionally use… Read more

  • AAUP Censures Louisiana State Over Buchanan Case, Prompting LSU to Play Dirty

    September 3, 2015

    When I took employment law in law school, the professor warned us on the first day that personnel disputes would be among the most vicious we would encounter as lawyers because they are, by definition, personal. Louisiana State University has proved my professor’s point by launching a series of attacks against Professor Teresa Buchanan, who,… Read more

  • Firing of LSU Professor Who Used Profanity in the Classroom Raises Concerns

    June 30, 2015

    Last week, Louisiana State University (LSU) associate professor Teresa Buchanan learned that she was fired from LSU as a result of what she’s calling a “witch hunt.” In April, a faculty review committee ruled on Buchanan’s use of curse words and sex-themed jokes, recommending corrective action but unanimously voting against her firing. LSU President and… Read more

  • Greg Lukianoff on LSU Student’s Hostility Toward Free Expression

    September 10, 2013

    FIRE President Greg Lukianoff writes for Forbes today to discuss a video and companion piece recently posted by Louisiana State University student Jana King, who laments LSU’s recent revision of a policy that restricted student speech to a 1,000 square foot area on campus called “Free Speech Alley.” As Lukianoff explains, King’s support for abridging… Read more

  • LSU’s ‘Free Speech’ Zones Raise A Disturbing Question: Are We Losing The War?

    September 10, 2013

    This fall I will celebrate 12 years defending the basic rights of students on college campuses across the country, and in that time my organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), has had some great successes. But while we win battle after battle, sometimes I fear we are losing the war. Time and time again… Read more

  • Demonstrators at UCF and LSU Enjoy Free Speech on Campus

    September 10, 2013

    The University of Central Florida (UCF) and Louisiana State University (LSU) have both recently made positive changes with respect to free speech zones on their campuses, and student journalists are emphasizing the importance of free expression. Adam Rhodes wrote last week for the Central Florida Future, UCF’s student newspaper, to celebrate the university’s acceptance of… Read more

  • LSU Ends ‘Free Speech Alley’

    July 5, 2013

    Last November, FIRE’s Azhar Majeed reported on a Louisiana State University (LSU) policy that restricted student expression to a 1,000 square foot area on campus called “Free Speech Alley.” Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a lawsuit, Candler v. Jenkins, over the rights of a student to hand out pro-life literature in areas of campus outside… Read more

  • LSU Blows $1 Million on Losing Fight against Professor It Fired over Katrina Comments

    April 5, 2013

    In February, Louisiana State University and former LSU engineering professor Ivor van Heerden reached a settlement agreement ending van Heerden’s wrongful termination suit against the school. Van Heerden had been fired after publicly stating that mistakes by the Army Corps of Engineers contributed to the failure of levees during Hurricane Katrina. The New Orleans newspaper The… Read more

  • LSU Settles First Amendment Suit With Professor Terminated After Katrina Comments

    February 13, 2013

    The Louisiana-based publication The Advocate is reporting that Louisiana State University and former LSU engineering professor Ivor van Heerden have reached a settlement in the wrongful termination suit the former professor brought against LSU in February 2010. Van Heerden had been publicly critical of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over its responsibility for the levee… Read more

  • LSU Sued by Student, ADF over Free Speech Zone

    November 5, 2012

    The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is suing Louisiana State University (LSU) on behalf of an LSU student over the university’s maintenance of a "free speech zone" restricting student campus expression. According to ADF, LSU prohibits students from distributing written materials anywhere on campus except for a solitary "Free Speech Alley," which only comprises approximately 1,000… Read more

  • AAUP Censures Louisiana State for Firing Professor Who Spoke Out about Hurricane Katrina

    June 22, 2012

    In January, FIRE’s Andrew Kloster wrote about Professor Ivor van Heerden’s lawsuit against Louisiana State University, which has been successful so far: In October, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana ruled in favor of Ivor van Heerden, an engineering professor at Louisiana State University (LSU) who claims he was fired… Read more

  • Federal District Court in Louisiana Reaffirms Academic Exception to ‘Garcetti’

    October 27, 2011

    As reported by the The Chronicle of Higher Education, a scientist alleging that Louisiana State University fired him due to comments he made as a private citizen has been allowed to proceed with his First Amendment retaliation suit. The ruling of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana against LSU’s summary… Read more

  • LSU Chancellor Speaks Out on Flag Burning Protest

    May 17, 2011

    Last week, Louisiana State University (LSU) graduate student Benjamin Haas expressed his intention to burn an American flag at the university’s Parade Grounds to protest the treatment of Isaac Eslava, who was arrested after stealing and burning an American flag flown over a campus war memorial. Correctly, the university respected Haas’ First Amendment rights and… Read more

  • Free Speech Suffers a Near-Miss at LSU

    February 9, 2006

    Louisiana State University (LSU) has dropped all charges against senior Collins Phillips, who had been accused of violating the student code of conduct for criticizing the university. As an article in Baton Rouge’s The Advocate explains, at a January 3 meeting of the Student Equality Commission (SEC), Phillips, who last year protested displays of the… Read more

  • Religious Liberty and Free Association at LSU: Not a ‘Conservative’ Concern

    March 17, 2005

    Today, FIRE announces a victory for freedom of religion and association at Louisiana State University, where the Muslim Students Association (MSA) recently attained official recognition. The group, which had already been recognized for 30 some years on campus, was unable to re-register for more than a year because it didn’t want to include additional “nondiscrimination”… Read more

  • Victory for Religious Freedom at Louisiana State University

    March 17, 2005

    BATON ROUGE, La., March 17, 2005—Louisiana State University (LSU) has granted official recognition to the Muslim Students Association (MSA) after the group was denied recognition for a year and a half for refusing to accept limits on its rights to religious liberty and free association. LSU initially denied the MSA official recognition when the group… Read more

  • Letter from LSU Dean of Students Kevin Price to FIRE, December 7, 2004

    December 7, 2004