School Spotlight
Rice University
Location:
Houston, Texas
Type:
Private
Speech Code Rating
Rice University has been given the speech code rating Yellow. Yellow light colleges and universities are those institutions with at least one ambiguous policy that too easily encourages administrative abuse and arbitrary application.
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Code of Student Conduct: Proscribed Conduct
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 7, 2019a. Mental or Bodily Harm, Reckless Action or Disregard: Intentionally inflicting or attempting to inflict mental or bodily harm on any person, including on the charged student; taking any reckless action, or showing reckless disregard, from which mental or bodily harm could result to any person, including to the cha... Read MoreCode of Student Conduct: Proscribed Conduct
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: March 7, 2019Misuse or Abuse of Computational Facilities, including: … use of computational facilities to send obscene, abusive, harassing or threatening messages or to engage in stalking behavior or to repeatedly send unwanted email to individuals Read MoreRice University General Policy No. 802-82: Use of University Facilities and Scheduling Campus Events
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: March 7, 20191. For these events, the use of a Residential College facility requires the approval of the Master of that College.* The use of the facilities of the Athletic Department for an athletic event requires the approval of the Director of Athletics. The use of any other University facility for an event requires the approv... Read MoreGeneral Announcements: Student Responsibility
Speech Code Category: Other Speech Codes
Last updated: March 7, 2019The university … reserves the right to insist on the withdrawal of any student whose conduct it judges to be clearly detrimental to the best interests of either the student or the university. The appropriate authorities take such action only after careful consideration. Read MorePolicy No. 830-01: Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 7, 2019Unwelcome sexual advances, unwelcome requests for sexual favors, and other unwelcome verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when: … Such conduct is reasonably regarded as offensive and has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with the educational or work oppor... Read MoreFaculty Handbook: Faculty Rights, Privileges, and Responsibilities
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: March 7, 2019The law recognizes in academic freedom a principal means of safeguarding free expression throughout society. In Keyishian, Justice Brennan put academic freedom at the very core of First Amendment protections. Two other justices, Felix Frankfurter in Sweezy v. New Hampshire (1957) and Lewis Powell in Regents of the U... Read MoreRice University Policy No. 832: APPROPRIATE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: March 7, 2019Any communication, which is defamatory, harassing, interferes with other uses of University resources or constitutes an improper disclosure of protected University or sensitive personal data is prohibited. Read MoreRice University General Policy No. 802-82: Use of University Facilities and Scheduling Campus Events
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: March 7, 2019Members of the University Community, including students, acting as individuals and not in the name of the University or any of its component parts, have the right to express their opinions, to picket, and to hold demonstrations or meetings on campus so long as such activities do not violate local, state, or federal ... Read More
Policies are rated on their inclusion of 10 due process safeguards. Each policy may receive 2 points for fully including that safeguard, 1 point for partial inclusion, and 0 points for no meaningful inclusion. Most, but not all, institutions have separate policies for sexual misconduct and all other misconduct. See FIRE’s Spotlight on Due Process report for more information.
Grades
Speech Code Countdown: ‘U.S. News’ Top 25 College Rankings, Numbers 19-11
October 6, 2016
FIRE’s U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” Countdown continues today. We’re giving you a school-by-school analysis of just how well America’s “Best Colleges” do when it comes to protecting free speech on campus. Unfortunately, in today’s crop of top campuses, troubling speech codes abound. As part of FIRE’s fresh look at U.S. News’ top-ranked… Read more
Rice University Student Stands Up for Free Speech in ‘The Rice Thresher’
November 22, 2011
Pro tip: If your speech silences someone else’s speech, there’s a good chance that your speech is no longer protected. That is the subject of an op-ed last week in The Rice Thresher by Rice University student Anthony Lauriello, titled "Eric Cantor protests at Rice University an affront to open discourse and free speech." According… Read more
Rice Editorial Misses the Point on Free Speech
March 27, 2009
An editorial in Rice University’s student newspaper, The Rice Thresher, recently took FIRE to task for giving Rice a "red-light" rating for maintaining policies that censor student speech. As FIRE explained in the blog post that drew the Thresher‘s attention, Rice’s red-light rating is because of its policy on Appropriate Use of Information Technology Resources…. Read more
The State of Free Speech on Campus: Rice University
March 9, 2009
Throughout the spring semester, FIRE is drawing special attention to the state of free speech at America’s top 25 national universities (as ranked by U.S. News & World Report). Today we review policies at Rice University, which FIRE has given a red-light rating for maintaining a policy that clearly and substantially restricts free expression on… Read more
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