School Spotlight
Portland State University
Speech Code Rating
Prohibited Discrimination & Harassment Policy
Speech Code Rating: Red
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: September 30, 2019Discriminatory Harassment: Discriminatory Harassment means verbal comments, graphic or written statements, or physical conduct by a student, faculty, staff, or other PSU community member based on a Protected Class or Protected Classes that is so severe, persistent or pervasive that it interferes with or limits a stu... Read MoreStudent Code of Conduct: Harassment
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: September 30, 2019Harassment is a course of conduct directed at a specific individual or individuals that causes or is intended to cause emotional or physical distress and serves no legitimate purpose. Read MoreBias Response Team
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: September 30, 2019The goals of the BRT are: Develop educational and outreach programs from the data collected from bias reports; Increase opportunities for communication and restorative justice for students, staff, and faculty; and Address incidents and trends identified through the reports utilizing resources such as trainings, com... Read MoreHousing Handbook: Civility
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Bullying Policies
Last updated: September 30, 2019Civility Abusive or adverse treatment of residents, guests, or staff members, or any behavior that results in a hostile work, living, or academic environment is prohibited. Many behaviors or actions could warrant conduct action, such as harassment, bullying, etc. Such behaviors that constitute a potential violation ... Read MoreHousing Handbook: Bias Related Behavior
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: September 30, 2019Bias incidents are behaviors/actions directed towards an individual or group based upon actual or perceived identity characteristics or background (e.g., skin color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity and expression, age, or physical, mental, or emotional disability)... Read More
Portland State University: Police Cancel International Socialist Organization Meeting, Stand By While College Republicans’ Discussion Disrupted
March 12, 2019
On January 24, 2019, a meeting of the Portland State International Socialist Organization (ISO), was cancelled by campus police. Joey Gibson, founder of conservative group Patriot Prayer, had announced he would show up to the event, expressing hope that his presence would provoke disruption, and a student suggested that others should “Fuck up Joey Gibson.”… Read more
Portland State University: Student Disciplined for Phone Call to Library Employee
March 18, 2011
On March 16, 2011, Portland State University student Rachel Cain had a telephone conversation with a PSU library employee concerning a library policy. Cain was not satisfied and left a phone message for the employee, criticizing the employee’s professionalism. Cain was later notified that her phone call had been reported to PSU’s student life office,… Read more
FIRE names America’s 10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech: 2020
January 29, 2020
These 10 colleges represent the worst campus censors over the last year Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute receives Lifetime Censorship Award PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 29, 2020 — Who are the worst campus censors? The competition is stiff, but today the nonpartisan Foundation for Individual Rights in Education released its annual list of America’s 10 Worst Colleges for Free… Read more
10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech: 2020
January 29, 2020
Since 2011, FIRE has named and shamed 65 individual colleges and universities as America’s worst for free speech. Some — we’re looking at you Harvard, DePaul, and Syracuse — are regulars and have appeared four or five times. Others have slunk away in embarrassment after being listed. But all have one thing in common: They… Read more
So to Speak podcast: ‘The Grievance Studies Affair’
August 8, 2019
Last fall, three writers and scholars announced they had submitted 20 fake papers to academic journals to test whether — as they suspected — certain fields of study lacked scientific and academic rigor. Of the 20 papers they submitted before revealing their hoax, seven were accepted, four published, seven were “still in play,” and… Read more
Campus police no match for heckler with cowbell who hijacked speech at Portland State
March 12, 2019
Police officers let a disruptive protester derail a College Republicans event It’s not the first time: In January, campus police preemptively cancelled a meeting of a student socialist group after a vocal political activist said he would show up Take Action: Tell PSU leaders they must uphold the First Amendment and protect campus expression PORTLAND,… Read more
‘Sokal Squared’ hoax paper prof facing discipline for not having research reviewed by institutional review board
January 8, 2019
Portland State University professor Peter Boghossian, who was one of the three participants in the project commonly known as “Sokal Squared” or the “Grievance Studies Affair” last year in which several academic journals were fooled into publishing fabricated papers, is now facing discipline for his involvement. On Saturday, his collaborators, James Lindsay and Helen Pluckrose,… Read more
More Campus Leaders Address Free Speech Following Election
November 21, 2016
For the past few months, we’ve been covering the statements campus leaders make about free speech at their colleges or universities. In the weeks following this month’s presidential election, campus leaders have addressed their students’ reactions to the results in various ways—some “good,” and others “bad” for freedom of expression. The Good Central Washington University… Read more
Oregon Appeals Court Rules for Student Expelled for Purported Threat
October 4, 2016
Four years ago, FIRE reported on the case of Henry Liu, a former graduate student who was expelled from Portland State University (PSU) for purportedly threatening to shoot two faculty members. On September 28, the Court of Appeals of the State of Oregon ruled that in the adjudicative hearing that resulted in Liu’s expulsion, PSU… Read more
Portland State University Admins Demonstrate Support for Controversial Student Speech
June 13, 2013
The Portland State Vanguard reported last week on a controversy at Portland State University (PSU) between PSU’s College Republicans and the school’s Muslim Students Association (MSA). The MSA and other students criticized two events sponsored by the College Republicans in May—a visiting speaker’s lecture and a movie screening—as being anti-Islam, and they asked the PSU… Read more
Associated Press and ‘Oregonian’: Portland State Student Expelled for Alleged “Threat”
July 27, 2012
This week, FIRE was quoted in two newspaper articles covering the story of a Portland State University graduate student, Henry Liu, who was expelled from the university last month for allegedly constituting a campus threat. As The Oregonian reports, Liu was expelled for allegedly expressing frustration about a faculty member to a classmate and mentioning firearms in… Read more
Victory: Portland State University Rescinds Charges Against Student over Phone Call with Employee
October 17, 2011
I’m pleased to announce that Portland State University (PSU) student Rachel Cain’s record has been wiped clean after she was initially found guilty of charges of "disruption" and "failure to comply" due to the content of a telephone conversation between Cain and an employee of PSU’s library system. Her case—like others we’ve seen at FIRE—is… Read more
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