School Spotlight

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Speech Code Rating
Massachusetts State Universities Equal Opportunity, Diversity and Affirmative Action Plan
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: October 2, 2021Discriminatory harassment. A form of unlawful discrimination including verbal and/or physical conduct based on legally protected characteristics and/or membership in a protected class that: 1. has the purpose or effect of creating an objectively intimidating, hostile or offensive work or educational environment; 2. ... Read MoreCommunity Standards: Advertising Policy
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: October 2, 2021All flyers, banners, and table tents require approval from the Office of Student Engagement before being displayed. … Advertisements may only be placed in approved areas. Displaying advertisements on windows, doors, walls, and in bathrooms is prohibited. Read MoreCommunity Standards: Interpersonal Misconduct
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: October 2, 2021Intimidation, threat, or harassment: Conduct less than a physical attack or physical action which interferes with a person in the conduct of their customary or usual affairs, or conduct which is sufficiently severe or pervasive to unreasonably interfere with an individual’s work or academic performance, or cre... Read MoreCommunity Guidelines: Solicitation, Posting Policy & Private Enterprise
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: October 2, 2021The Director of RPS reserves the right to refuse permission to advertise events or services that promote the use of alcohol or are insensitive to members of the campus community. Read MoreCommunity Standards: Free Speech & Assembly
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: October 2, 2021All students have a right to demonstrate on College premises provided no such demonstration shall materially disrupt class, work or other College business or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others. … There shall be no interference with a demonstration on the grounds of content of spe... Read MoreMA State Universities Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: October 2, 2021Section V.1 Title IX Prohibited Sexual Harassment (a) Sexual Harassment The Universities prohibit, under this Policy, conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following conditions: … Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it... Read More
‘Speech Code of the Month’ in ‘The FIRE Quarterly’
May 25, 2007
As Torch readers know, each month, FIRE features a college or university with a particularly egregious speech code as its Speech Code of the Month. We use Speech Code of the Month to educate the public about the ever-present problem of speech codes on campus, but the feature also helps put public pressure on these… Read more
New Speech Code of the Month Website Feature
April 13, 2007
FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month program has been an important vehicle for change. Since June 2005, five universities—Albertson College of Idaho, the University of Nevada at Reno, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Jacksonville State University, and the University of Mississippi—have changed their policies after being named Speech Code of the Month. In addition, the… Read more
Victory for Free Speech at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
January 16, 2007
Students at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts are much freer today than they were a year ago, thanks to a significant revision in university policy. Since being named FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month in January 2006, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) has dramatically changed its policies. This victory for free expression follows a… Read more
Speech Code of the Month: Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
January 3, 2006
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for January 2006: Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. The Student Handbook at Massachusetts College for Liberal Arts (MCLA), a public institution bound by the First Amendment, contains a Picketing Policy that provides as follows: “There shall be no interference with a demonstration on the grounds of content… Read more