Pennsylvania House of Representatives Select Committee on Student Academic Freedom

September 19, 2005

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives brought together a committee to examine allegations that Pennsylvania’s public universities were plagued by liberal ideology and indoctrination. David A. French, at the time president of FIRE, served as a legal adviser to the panel. FIRE released FIRE Report on the First Amendment Responsibilities of Pennsylvania State-Funded Colleges and Universities, explaining that Pennsylvania universities are bound to follow the strictures of the U.S. and Pennsylvania Constitutions, notably to respect the expressive rights of students and faculty members, to protect religious liberty on campus, and to protect freedom of conscience on campus.

Judicial Affairs Handbook: Student Code of Conduct

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: June 24, 2016

Unwelcome conduct by an individual(s) that is sufficiently severe or pervasive that it alters the living, educational, or employment conditions and creates an environment that a reasonable person would find intimidating, hostile or offensive. Harassing conduct includes bullying, cyber bullying and stalking.

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Student Organizations: University Policies- Advertising & Promotion Policy

Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: June 27, 2016

Discriminatory, intimidating, or exploitive materials are strictly prohibited.

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All intended promotions must be submitted for review and approval to the SMC Information Desk, the SMC Operations Manager or the SMC Evening Operations Manager may only approve the material.

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The SMC Operations Manager or the SMC Evening Operations Manager must view all handouts intended for distribution. … Distribution of handouts is not permitted without prior approval.

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Sex Discrimination and Sexual Misconduct

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: June 27, 2016

Sexual harassment consists of interaction between individuals that is characterized by unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: 1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, living conditions and/or educational evaluation; 2) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for tangible employment or educational decisions affecting such individual; or 3) such conduct has the effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or academic performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or educational environment.

In Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, 526 U.S. 629 (1999), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that in order to constitute sex discrimination in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the harassment of a student must be “so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it can be said to deprive the victim’s access to the educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school.”

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Discrimination and Harassment Policy and Complaint Procedures

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: June 27, 2016

Harassment is defined as any type of conduct directed at an individual based on his or her protected class status that is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it substantially interferes with an individual’s work environment, educational performance, participation in extra-curricular activities, or equal access to the University’s resources and opportunities.

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Millersville University Standing Strong for Free Speech for Bill Ayers

February 18, 2009

Congratulations to Millersville University (MU) for promising to stand strong against protesters who want MU to disinvite controversial professor William Ayers from a lecture scheduled for March 19. Ayers became controversial during the 2008 presidential election and, since then, has been disinvited from University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) and Georgia Southern University (GSU) under very questionable circumstances. At both schools, vehement calls to disinvite Ayers were followed by the claim that the disinvitation was merely for security purposes. At UNL, it was reported that a series of increasingly violent and credible threats made it impossible to guarantee security on campus, and […]

Oxford Spies on Students through Facebook

July 18, 2007

The United Kingdom appears to be rapidly turning into a place where Big Brother is not just a character in a book, or a reality TV show, but a reality for everyone. Britain is well-known for its abundance of closed-circuit TV cameras that record everyone walking down the streets, all the time—and sometimes, the cameras even harangue you to stop doing what you’re doing. Yet the Argus-like eye of Britain is not confined to the increasingly ubiquitous security cameras—now, at least for Oxford University, Facebook.com is part of the equation. The AP reports that Oxford administrators are actively searching through […]

Student Denied Degree Due to MySpace Picture; Litigation Commenced

April 30, 2007

The battle between students and university administrators over online privacy has reached a new—though sadly predictable—level of ludicrousness. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Stacy Snyder, a 27-year-old student at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, was denied her education degree (and the accompanying teaching certificate) after student-teacher advisors and university officials discovered an “unprofessional” picture of the degree candidate on her MySpace page. The picture, which portrays Snyder drinking from a plastic “Mr. Goodbar” cup and wearing a pirate hat at a 2005 Halloween party, is accompanied by the caption “Drunken Pirate.” Despite the fact that (a) Snyder was of legal […]