School Spotlight
Oregon State University
Location:
Corvallis, Oregon
Type:
Public
Speech Code Rating
Oregon State University has been given the speech code rating Green. Green light institutions are those colleges and universities whose policies nominally protect free speech.
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Equal Opportunity & Access: Discrimination and Harassment Policies
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: June 3, 2021Oregon State University policy prohibits behavior based on another’s protected status that is sufficiently severe or pervasive that it has the effect, intended or unintended, of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or academic performance because it has created an intimidating, hostile, or ... Read MoreUniversity Policy 05-001: Sexual Misconduct and Discrimination
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: June 3, 2021Sexual/Gender-Based Harassment. Any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favor, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: … Such conduct is sufficiently severe or pervasive that it has the effect, intended or unintended, of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or ... Read MoreTime, Manner, and Place Rules for Speech Activities
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: June 3, 2021The university recognizes and supports the rights of free expression and speech. … University grounds are open to the public and the university community for speech activities except any grounds designated for authorized access only. … In order to allow scheduling and to assure public safety, persons des... Read MoreStudent Conduct Code: Offenses Proscribed by the University
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: June 3, 20216. Harm or Endangerment to Persons. Conduct that causes physical harm or endangers the health or safety of any person. 7. Threats: Written, oral, or physical conduct that causes a reasonable expectation of injury to the health or safety of any person or damage to any property. 8. Harassment. Repeated, persistent, se... Read MoreEqual Opportunity & Access: Bullying Policy
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Bullying Policies
Last updated: June 3, 2021Under this University policy, bullying is prohibited. Bullying is defined as conduct of any sort directed at another that is severe, pervasive or persistent, and is of a nature that would cause a reasonable person in the victim’s position substantial emotional distress and undermine his or her ability to work,... Read MoreOffice of Institutional Diversity: Bias Incident Response Process
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: June 3, 2021Consistent with the Oregon State’s Statement on Freedom of Expression, the Bias Response Team does not seek to discipline individuals for expression of views in a manner that is protected by their rights under the free speech clauses of the state and federal constitutions, but may chal... Read MoreUniversity Policy 05-001: Sexual Misconduct and Discrimination- Title IX Sexual Harassment
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: June 3, 2021Title IX Sexual Harassment. Any conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following: … Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to a university educational program or activity; ... Read More
FIRE surveyed roughly 37,000 students at 154 colleges and universities about the climate for free speech at their institutions. In 2021, FIRE released rankings of those schools, based on a number of factors, including openness, tolerance, self-expression, administrative support for free speech, and campus policies, scoring overall speech climate on a scale from 0-100. See the full report on FIRE’s 2021 College Free Speech Rankings for more information.
Rankings / out of 154 colleges surveyed |
|
| Overall Ranking | 13 |
| Ideological Diversity | 62 |
Overall / out of a top score of 100 |
|
| Overall Score | 65.38 |
| Openness | 9.47 |
| Tolerance (Liberals) | 10.32 |
| Tolerance (Conservatives) | 8.35 |
| Administrative Support | 5.59 |
| Comfort | 15.28 |
| Disruptive Conduct | 10.36 |
| Speech Code | GREEN |
Universities Give Students Frightening Halloween Assignment: Pick a Costume
October 31, 2016
Is your “exhausted undergrad” costume ready for tonight’s festivities? That might be one of the frighteningly few outfit choices remaining if you attend a university expecting you to avoid “cultural appropriation” this year. And beware: The rules are petrifyingly hard to follow. While institutions are well within their rights to suggest costume considerations to their… Read more
Oregon State Pays Hefty Price for Censorship via Newspaper Theft
April 4, 2014
Torch readers may remember the case of ‘Oregon State University Student Alliance v. Ray’, in which Oregon State University tried to stop distribution of the student newspaper the Liberty by confiscating (okay, trashing; see above) its news bins and citing an unwritten policy to block new news bins back in 2009.
2013 in Review: Threats from Washington, Victories in the States
December 30, 2013
As 2013 comes to a close, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) looks back on a year that was headlined by dire threats to free speech and student rights on campus.
Oregon State Earns Highest Rating for Free Speech Policies
December 13, 2013
Oregon State University (OSU) joins an elite group of colleges and universities by becoming just the 17th school in the country to receive FIRE’s highest, “green light,” rating for free speech policies. A college or university earns a green light when its written policies do not seriously imperil free speech. While the clear majority of the nation’s colleges… Read more
Oregon State University: One Policy Away from “Green Light
July 25, 2012
Emily Harrison is a FIRE summer intern. Oregon State University (OSU) is just one "red light" speech policy away from earning FIRE’s acclaimed "green light" distinction. The university revised its restrictive "Electronic Harassment" policy in 2008, which is a positive indicator of OSU’s willingness to protect the free speech rights of its students and faculty members…. Read more
Oregon State University Improves Bias Incident Policy
December 8, 2008
Here on The Torch, we have reported on several occasions about the growing number of university policies prohibiting so-called "bias incidents." The problem, from FIRE’s perspective, is that these "bias incidents" are often defined to include constitutionally protected expression. One of the policies we highlighted in the past was a policy at Oregon State University… Read more
Unconstitutional ‘Bias Reporting’ Programs: A Nationwide Problem
November 29, 2007
This fall, The College of William & Mary launched a Bias Incident Reporting System “to assist members of the William and Mary community—students, staff, and faculty—in bringing bias incidents to the College’s attention.” In its initial incarnation, the system was fraught with constitutional problems, from both free speech and due process standpoints. The system initially… Read more
Oregon Governor Signs Bill Protecting Student Press into Law
July 18, 2007
The Student Press Law Center reports that last Friday, the governor of Oregon signed into law a bill protecting the free speech rights of high school and college journalists. House Bill 3279 provides that: Student journalists are responsible for determining the news, opinion, feature and advertising content of school-sponsored media.Any student enrolled in a public… Read more
Student Editorial Highlights FIRE Case at Marquette University
November 8, 2006
A recent editorial in The Daily Barometer, the student newspaper at Oregon State University, picked up on the absurdity of FIRE’s recent case at Marquette University where the chair of the philosophy department, Dr. James South, removed a quote from humorist Dave Barry from a graduate student’s office door because South found the quote “patently… Read more
Oregon State’s Double Standard for Vandalism
November 17, 2005
Earlier this month, Samantha reported that 2005 FIRE summer intern Luke Sheahan has been shining some much-needed sunlight on newspaper theft at Oregon State University. Luke is a student there and runs a student publication called The Liberty, hundreds of copies of which continue to be stolen—as if the theft of a distribution bin wasn’t… Read more
FIRE Intern Fights for Press Freedom at Oregon State
November 2, 2005
Luke Sheahan, one of FIRE’s summer interns from 2005, has bravely taken the fight for free speech back to school with him. Sheahan is the publisher and executive editor of The Liberty, a student publication at Oregon State University. In October, a distribution bin for The Liberty was stolen from its location near the OSU… Read more