University of North Carolina System: State of the First Amendment

January 10, 2006

FIRE teamed up with the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy to release the Report on the State of the First Amendment in the University of North Carolina System. The Report notes that UNC System’s many speech codes and illiberal restrictions on religious groups would likely not survive a legal challenge. It also reveals that “13 out of the 16 schools in the UNC System have at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech.”

Department of Residential Life: Community Living Standards- Harassment

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: May 2, 2017

Harassment, defined as any physical force, violence, threat, intimidation, stalking, or other behavior that interferes with an individual’s personal safety, academic efforts, employment, or participation in University-sponsored activities, is strictly prohibited.  …

Sexual harassment of students is further defined as follows:

Sexual harassment is defined in North Carolina Central University’s Sexual Misconduct Policy as follows: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct or communication of a sexual nature when: … (iii) such conduct is sufficiently severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive as to have the effect of creating an intimidating or hostile educational/work environment or negatively affects a student’s/employee’s educational/employment opportunities.

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Department of Residential Life: Community Living Standards- Posting Policy

Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: May 2, 2017

Materials deemed harassing, harmful to the community, or promoting at risk behavior or conduct that violates any University policies, regulations, rules and/or federal or state will not be approved for posting.

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POL 40.13.1: Student Code of Conduct- Bullying/Cyberbullying

Speech Code Category: Bullying Policies
Last updated: May 2, 2017

Bullying/Cyberbullying. Any pattern of gestures or written, electronic or verbal communications, behaviors, or any physical act or any threatening communication that is threatening or intimidating which (1) places a person in actual and reasonable fear of harm to his/her person or damage to his/her property, or (ii) creates a hostile environment by substantially interfering with or impairing a students educational performance, opportunities or benefits, or a University student employees ability to perform the essential functions of his/her job.

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POL 40.13.1: Student Code of Conduct- Harassment

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: May 2, 2017

Harassment. Repeated, persistent, severe, or pervasive actions directed toward specific individual(s) with the intent or effect to harass, harm, or alarm, including attempted or threatened physical contact, or acts that create the reasonable apprehension of unwanted contact. Such acts may include but are not limited to face to face interactions, phone calls, text messages, and/or use of social media.

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POL 40.13.1: Student Code of Conduct- Sexual Harassment

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: May 2, 2017

8.1.23 Sexual Harassment. Sexual harassment is defined in the NCCU Sexual Misconduct Policy as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct or communication of a sexual nature when: … (iii) such conduct is sufficiently severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive as to have the effect of creating an intimidating or hostile educational/work environment or negatively affects a student’s/employee’s educational/employment opportunities.

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Department of Residential Life: Community Living Standards- Decorations

Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: May 2, 2017

When decorating exterior room doors or common areas, the Department of Residential Life requires that residents avoid posting materials that would constitute harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

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REG 70.00.4: Responsible Use Regulation

Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: May 2, 2017

6.11 Use of electronic mail messages or Web pages that constitute invasion of privacy, harassment, defamation, threats, intimidation, or discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, disability, age, religion, or sexual orientation.

6.12 Unacceptable use of email and personal use of NCCU email.

6.12.1 NCCU users shall exercise due care when addressing email correspondence to ensure that the correspondence is addressed correctly and that the intended recipient is authorized to view content within emails or documents. Examples of email content that constitute unacceptable use include the following:

6.12.2 Private or personal for-profit activities. This includes personal use of email for marketing or business transactions, advertising of products or services or any other activity intended to foster personal gain.

6.12.3 Unauthorized not-for-profit business activities.

6.12.4 Seeking/exchanging information, software, etc., that is not related to one’s job duties and responsibilities.

6.12.5 Unauthorized distribution of confidential data and information including the unauthorized use of email auto-forwarding.

6.12.6 Use for, or in support of, unlawful/prohibited activities as defined by federal, State and local laws or regulations.

6.12.7 Matters concerning political activities as prohibited by State law and University policy.

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POL 80.07.1: Sexual Misconduct Policy

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: May 2, 2017

3.1.6 Hostile environment sexual harassment occurs when unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature is so severe, persistent, or pervasive that it affects a student’s ability to participate in or benefit from an education program or activity, or creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment. A hostile environment can be created by anyone, including a University employee, another student, or even someone visiting the University, such as a student or employee from another University.

[…]

3.1.16 Sexual Harassment comes in several forms and includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct or communication of a sexual nature when: (i) submission to or rejection of such conduct or communication is a term or condition of education/employment benefits, academic/job related evaluations or opportunities; (ii) submission to such conduct or communication substantially interferes with a student’s education and/or an employee’s job; or (iii) such conduct is sufficiently severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive as to have the effect of creating an intimidating or hostile educational/work environment or negatively affects a student’s/employee’s educational/employment opportunities.

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Proper Response on Speech

November 9, 2016

By Staff at The Herald-Sun “The Department of Residential Life recognizes that students living in residential communities have certain responsibilities in their relationship to other community members and to their environment. These responsibilities include: … Avoid using the written or spoken word in a way that demeans, defames, offends, slanders, or discriminates.”… Read more here.

NCCU to Drop Offending Speech Rule

November 7, 2016

By Ray Gronberg at The Herald-Sun N.C. Central University will drop a provision in its rules for dorm residents that drew objections recently from a free-speech group, campus officials say… Read more here.

NCCU Dorm Speech Policy Under Fire

November 3, 2016

By Ray Gronberg at The Herald-Sun A Philadelphia-based free-speech group has criticized N.C. Central University for a dormitory conduct policy that asks students to avoid using language that “offends” their fellow residents… Read more here.

How a ‘Campus Free Expression Act’ in North Carolina Actually Aims to Suppress Student Speech

March 25, 2016

By Alex Kotch at Alternet News came on March 7 that North Carolina’s Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest will propose the deceivingly named Campus Free Expression Act at the state legislature next month. The act instructs the University of North Carolina’s Board of Governors to craft a systemwide policy that would impose harsh penalties, including expulsion, on students, staff and faculty members who disrupt classes, public meetings or events… Read more here.

UNC Greensboro earns North Carolina’s second ‘green light’ rating for free speech in a month

May 11, 2017

Both UNC Greensboro and North Carolina Central University now earn a ‘green light’ rating from FIRE, meaning the institutions do not maintain any policies that imperil free speech. The state of North Carolina is home to four of 31 institutions nationwide with this distinction. GREENSBORO, N.C., May 11, 2017 — The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina Central University have earned the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s highest, “green light” rating for their commitment to the First Amendment. The universities revised or eliminated all of their speech codes to join an elite group of institutions — including […]

North Carolina Central University earns FIRE’s highest free speech rating

May 11, 2017

DURHAM, N.C., May 11, 2017 — North Carolina Central University has earned the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s highest, “green light” rating for its commitment to the First Amendment. In cooperation with FIRE, NCCU revised and eliminated speech codes to join an elite group of universities that maintain policies respecting the expressive rights of students and faculty. “Thanks to the NCCU administration’s dedication, the First Amendment rights of almost 9,000 students and faculty members have been restored,” said Azhar Majeed, FIRE’s vice president of policy reform. “FIRE is pleased to welcome another institution to our group of green light […]

The Problematic State of Free Speech at North Carolina Universities

July 29, 2016

There should be no place safer for free speech and academic freedom than a public university. After all, as state agents, they are legally—and morally—bound to respect their students’ constitutional rights. So why have many of the public universities in my home state of North Carolina egregiously violated the rights of their students? Why does Duke University, the private institution I attend, uphold the values of “freedom of inquiry and the free exchange of ideas,” while many of its nearby public counterparts fail to do so despite identical obligations? With the exception of Duke University and the University of North […]

Speech Codes of the Year: 2005

December 29, 2005

An outrageous number of colleges and universities severely restrict their students’ expressive rights—so many that researching and analyzing these restrictions is my full-time job. As 2005 draws to a close, I would like to highlight just a few of the particularly outrageous (but, sadly, quite common) restrictions that I found in the course of my research this year. These institutions should be ashamed of themselves. Stevens Institute of Technology provides students with a laundry list of behaviors that constitute sexual harassment, including “sexist jokes,” “comments regarding a person’s attire,” “displaying or discussing materials pertaining to males or females in a […]