School Spotlight

Northwestern State University
Speech Code Rating
Student Handbook: Code of Conduct- Personal Conduct Infractions
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: September 18, 2020Physical abuse or threat thereof, verbal abuse, bullying, harassment, domestic or dating violence, intimidation, or coercion against any person. Read MoreStudent Handbook: Sexual Discrimination and Sexual Assault & Harassment Policy
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: September 18, 2020Sexual Harassment: Unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature when … such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with a person’s employment or education, or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive employment or educational environment, and has no legitimate relationship to the subject ... Read MoreStudent Handbook: Code of Student Conduct- Informational Infractions
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: September 18, 2020Use of computing facilities to access, send, or receive obscene and/or abusive messages. Read MoreStudent Handbook: Policy on Public Speech, Assembly and Demonstrations
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: September 18, 2020Demonstrations and protests should take place at least 150 feet from academic buildings during academic hours to avoid disrupting the academic functions of the university. … To maintain safety and security, to minimize risks of harm and to minimize conflict with academic processes, the university has designate... Read MoreStudent Handbook: Cyberbullying
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Bullying Policies
Last updated: September 18, 2020Cyberbullying involves the use of information technology (email, websites, social networking, internet messaging, or any other technology) for hostile behavior to harm or to upset others. A person cannot easily get away from cyberbullying since using email and the internet are everyday practices. Northwestern State ... Read MoreStudent Handbook: Code of Student Conduct- Introduction
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: September 18, 2020As a member of the University community, a student is entitled to the freedoms and rights guaranteed to students by the Constitutions of the United States and Louisiana. Read More
Northwestern State Improves Speech Code Rating by Quickly Revising Problematic Policy
August 26, 2016
Northwestern State University in Louisiana (NSULA) has revised the restrictive demonstration policy that FIRE named as our August “Speech Code of the Month” just a few days ago. The university has eliminated the most problematic parts of the policy and has told FIRE it is committed to protecting free speech on campus. NSULA President Jim… Read more
Speech Code of the Month: Northwestern State University
August 24, 2016
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for August 2016: Northwestern State University in Louisiana. Universities are allowed to adopt reasonable, content-neutral, and narrowly tailored “time, place, and manner” regulations governing expressive activities on campus, but Northwestern State’s new Policy on Public Speech, Assembly and Demonstrations is anything but reasonable. Because of this policy,… Read more
UMass Chancellor: Campus Leaders Must Encourage Debate, Not Censorship
July 31, 2013
Far too often, college administrators fail to recognize the value of free speech in education and instead take action to censor students’ protected expression. However, Kumble Subbaswamy, Chancellor at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, commendably advocated for free speech in a recent article for The Huffington Post. Commenting on recent free speech controversies involving Rolling Stone… Read more
FIRE Cited in University Policy, But Speech Code Gets It Wrong on ‘Cyberbullying’
August 16, 2012
In what may be a first, FIRE has been directly cited in a university policy regulating student expression. Northwestern State University (NSU) in Louisiana maintains a Student Handbook policy on "Cyberbullying" (PDF) that states, in relevant part: Cyberbullying involves the use of information technology (email, websites, social networking, internet messaging, or any other technology) for… Read more
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