School Spotlight
Missouri State University
Speech Code Rating
Sex Discrimination and VAWA Offenses Policy and Investigation Procedures
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: April 30, 2019Gender-Based Harassment is a form of Sexual Harassment and refers to unwelcome conduct based on an individual’s actual or perceived sex, including harassment based on gender identity or nonconformity with sex stereotypes, and not necessarily involving conduct of a sexual nature. … Sexual Harassment is a form o... Read MoreResidence Hall Guide to Living: Community Living
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: April 30, 2019The following Bill of Rights contains basic rights of roommates. In an effort to protect the rights of individual roommates, the Department of Residence Life, Housing and Dining Services expects all residents to have: … The right to be free from intimidation; physical and emotional harm; and racial, sexual, an... Read MoreResidence Hall Guide to Living: Community Standards
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: April 30, 2019Computer Usage – Please refer to the Policy Library at http://www.missouristate.edu/policy/. In addition, the following guidelines apply specifically to the residence halls: Computer Labs … 3. The viewing, downloading, or printing of pornographic/harassing/offensive materials is prohibited. … Definition ... Read MoreDean of Students Office: Bias Response Team
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: April 29, 2019The BRT will provide an organized and coordinated method of assessment of the severity of an incident or situation affecting the University community. The BRT determines the need to refer the incident to the appropriate University official or committee. Any BRT response will be educational at its core. Voluntary i... Read MoreExpressive Activity Policy
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: April 30, 2019Missouri State University is committed to providing an environment where issues can be openly discussed and explored. The freedom to exchange views is essential to the mission of the University. This policy is in place to provide a community environment in which open discussion can occur without disrupting the acade... Read MoreCode of Student Rights and Responsibilities: Student Rights
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: April 29, 2019Federal and State constitutional guarantees of free inquiry, expression and assembly are specifically restated as guarantees on this campus. Read MoreCode of Student Rights and Responsibilities: Student Responsibilities
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: April 29, 2019The search for knowledge can only take place within an atmosphere of open exchange. Open exchange can only take place in an environment of respect and civility. The university has an economically, culturally and ethnically diverse population. Students are encouraged to respect differences of culture, lifestyles and ... Read MoreAdvertising, Distribution, Solicitation and Facilities Usage Policy
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: April 29, 2019In order to balance the interests of the university in maintaining a campus environment that is aesthetically pleasing, free from rampant commercial activity, and consistent with the university’s public affairs mission, the university has established this policy detailing the permissible nature in which advertising,... Read MoreCode of Student Rights and Responsibilities: Proscribed Conduct
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: April 29, 2019Discriminatory Harassment, which is unwelcome discriminatory conduct directed toward another person or an identifiable group of persons on the basis of on the basis of race, color, national origin (including ancestry, or any other subcategory of national origin recognized by applicable law), religion, sex (including... Read More
Missouri State University: Political Litmus Test in School of Social Work
March 14, 2007
Emily Brooker sued Missouri State University (MSU) after she was threatened with expulsion and charged with violating MSU’s “Standards of Essential Functioning” for refusing to lobby the Missouri legislature on behalf of homosexual adoption. The lawsuit was settled in her favor. An outside investigation of the School of Social Work found ideological coercion on the… Read more
Missouri State University: Investigation of Student Paper for Editorial Cartoon
March 26, 2004
At Missouri State University (then called Southwest Missouri State University), administrators investigated a faculty advisor, Professor Wanda Brandon, and student editor, Mandy Phillips of its campus newspaper, The Standard, for publishing an editorial cartoon that a Native American group found “offensive.” Jana Estergard of SMSU’s Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) contacted Professor Brandon to request… Read more
When Campus Intolerance Means Free Speech Gets Torn Up and Run Over, Literally
March 21, 2014
Being offended is what happens when you have your deepest beliefs challenged. And if you make it through four years of college without having your deepest beliefs challenged, you should demand your money back. I have been saying that line in speeches on campus for more than a decade. Even though it often gets a laugh, the idea that students have an overarching “right not to be offended” seems more entrenched on campus than ever.
Missouri State Latest School to Succumb to OCR Mandate
August 29, 2012
According to an article by Steve Pokin in Springfield, Missouri’s The News Leader, another school has succumbed to the Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR’s) April 4, 2011, "Dear Colleague" letter. Missouri State University (MSU) is the most recent casualty of OCR’s push to have colleges and universities across the country lower their standard of evidence… Read more
This Month in FIRE History: Missouri State’s Attack on Press Freedom
April 20, 2012
Eight years ago this month, FIRE continued its fight for freedom of the press at Southwest Missouri State University (SMSU, currently known as Missouri State University), renewing pressure on the school after it targeted the campus paper The Standard for an "offensive" cartoon. The controversy began in November 2003, when The Standard printed the… Read more
Thought Reform and Ideological Screening on Campus in 2009
December 31, 2009
Liberty cannot exist in a society where people are forced to conform their thoughts and expression to official viewpoints. Differences of opinion are natural in a vibrant, free society, yet at too many of our nation’s colleges and universities, students and professors are expected to share a single viewpoint under the banner of "community values"… Read more
FIRE DVD Distributed in Print Edition of ‘National Review’
September 30, 2009
Readers and subscribers of the print edition of National Review will have a pleasant surprise as they flip through their October 5, 2009 edition. FIRE has inserted a DVD with three of our recent documentaries: Think What We Think…Or Else! Thought Control on the American Campus, which documents the shocking indoctrination program at the University… Read more
FIRE’s YouTube Channel Grows in Popularity
June 11, 2009
Earlier this week, FIRE released a new addition to its video library with a short documentary titled “Threats, Coercion, and Bullying at Missouri State.” The video explores the case of Emily Brooker, a social work student at Missouri State University. Emily had her rights violated when a professor in the School of Social Work attempted… Read more
FIRE Releases New Short Documentary on Freedom of Conscience Case at Missouri State, Announces Student Video Contest Winners
June 9, 2009
FIRE is pleased to announce the release of a new video on DVD and online called "Threats, Coercion, and Bullying at Missouri State." The short documentary covers FIRE’s case at Missouri State University (MSU), where social work student Emily Brooker was threatened with expulsion after she refused (as a matter of personal belief) to send… Read more
FIRE Releases New Short Documentary on Freedom of Conscience Case at Missouri State, Announces Student Video Contest Winners
June 9, 2009
PHILADELPHIA, June 9, 2009—The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is pleased to announce the release of a new video on DVD and online called “Threats, Coercion, and Bullying at Missouri State.” The short documentary covers FIRE’s case at Missouri State University (MSU), where social work student Emily Brooker was threatened with expulsion after… Read more
Threats, Coercion, and Bullying at Missouri State
June 9, 2009
This short documentary covers FIRE’s case at Missouri State University, where social work student Emily Brooker was threatened with expulsion after she refused (as a matter of personal belief) to send a signed letter to the Missouri state legislature in favor of homosexual foster parenting and adoption. This violation resulted not only in a federal… Read more
Binghamton Social Work Case Gets National Attention, Student Government Support
November 14, 2008
The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) and The Volokh Conspiracy both have reported on the case of Binghamton University Department of Social Work master’s student Andre Massena, who was suspended for one year with no guarantee of return, required to apologize, required to disavow his own views, and required to make every effort to… Read more
Binghamton University Department of Social Work Declares War on Student for Posters Criticizing Department and Government Agency
November 13, 2008
Today’s press release paints a very disturbing picture of Binghamton University’s Department of Social Work. The department ordered the suspension of a master’s student for one year with no guarantee of return, required him to apologize, and demanded that he publicly disavow his own views after he put up posters challenging the department for having… Read more
Vandals Trample Upon Students’ Rights at Missouri State—Literally
October 24, 2008
FIRE has received some troubling news from Missouri State University. Earlier this month, a student group at MSU had a campus display vandalized. The group, Bears for Life, sought to draw attention to their pro-life stance by setting up four thousand popsicle-stick crosses on a campus lawn. While the group’s intention may have been to… Read more
Another Emily Brooker?
April 11, 2008
In 2006 and 2007, FIRE publicized the case of Emily Brooker, who sued Missouri State University (MSU) after she was charged with violating MSU’s “Standards of Essential Functioning” for refusing to lobby the Missouri legislature on behalf of homosexual adoption. MSU settled the lawsuit, and Brooker came out a clear winner. Later, an independent report… Read more
Missouri State Releases Report on Social Work Department
April 9, 2007
Last year, FIRE reported that Missouri State University had settled a lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of social work student Emily Brooker. Ms. Brooker sued MSU after she was charged with violating MSU’s “Standards of Essential Functioning” for refusing to lobby the Missouri legislature on behalf of homosexual adoption. David… Read more
Missouri State Settles Freedom of Conscience Lawsuit
November 13, 2006
In a quick turn of events, Missouri State University didn’t hesitate to settle a freedom of conscience lawsuit that was filed less then two weeks ago. The lawsuit was filed in response to an incident in which student Emily Brooker was interrogated for two and a half hours by faculty members who attacked her religious beliefs concerning… Read more
Social Work Injustice on Inside Higher Ed
November 1, 2006
Today’s Inside Higher Ed carries an article covering the ADF’s lawsuit against Missouri State University for its outrageous, ideologically based treatment of social work student Emily Brooker. The case, which was covered by our own Luke Sheahan in a blog yesterday, involves, among other things, Brooker’s being forced to write a letter to legislators supporting… Read more
Missouri State Violates Freedom of Conscience
October 31, 2006
Last week FIRE asked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to “take action against political litmus tests in America’s schools of social work.” HHS requires its social workers to have degrees from schools accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, which requires its schools to “integrate social and economic justice content grounded… Read more
More Shocking Offensiveness from a College Newspaper
May 9, 2006
With the ongoing censure of and strike at Le Moyne College that FIRE reported on yesterday, FIRE was reminded that there are many reasons that college administrators have decided that a free press is simply not something with which they should have to contend. The Missouri State cartoon we reprinted on the blog yesterday is… Read more
Press Freedom Under Assault at Southwest Missouri State University
March 26, 2004
SPRINGFIELD, MO —Southwest Missouri State University (SMSU), a public institution bound by the First Amendment, is investigating the faculty advisor and student editor of its campus newspaper, The Standard, for publishing an editorial cartoon that a Native American group found “offensive.” SMSU has refused to rule out a formal hearing on the matter, has requested… Read more
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