San Jose State University
Location: San Jose, California
Website: http://www.sjsu.edu
Type: Public
Federal Circuit: 9th Circuit
Speech Code Rating
San Jose State 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. Read more here.
Discrimination Incident Reporting Form
Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: January 3, 2018Type of complaint (classify as best you can):(Required)
Student Conduct Code
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: January 3, 2018Students are expected to be good citizens and to engage in responsible behaviors that reflect well upon their university, to be civil to one another and to others in the campus community, and contribute positively to student and university life.
Information Technology Services: Student Email Usage Guidelines
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: January 3, 2018Users are prohibited from using the system for any unethical purposes, including but not limited to plagiarism, pornography, violence, gambling, racism, harassment or any illegal activity.
Student Organization Code of Conduct: Disorderly Conduct
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: January 3, 2018(5) Disorderly Conduct
(A) Any offensive or disorderly act or display which interferes with the rights of others,
(B) Harassment, threats, physical abuse, intimidation or the threat of physical abuse, including bias-related incidents.
(C) Excessive noise which is disruptive to the campus or surrounding community
Student Conduct Code
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: January 3, 2018Use of computing facilities and resources to send obscene or intimidating and abusive messages.
Executive Order 1097: Systemwide Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Sexual Misconduct, Dating and Domestic Violence, and Stalking against Students and Systemwide Procedure for Addressing Such Complaints by Students
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: January 3, 2018Sexual Harassment, a form of Sex Discrimination, is unwelcome verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that includes but is not limited to sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and any other conduct of a sexual nature where:
- Submission to, or rejection of, the conduct is explicitly or implicitly used as the basis for any decision affecting a Complainant’s academic status or progress, or access to benefits and services, honors, programs, or activities available at or through the University; or
- The conduct is sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive that its effect, whether or not intended, could be considered by a reasonable person in the shoes of the Complainant, and is in fact considered by the Complainant, as limiting his or her ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities or opportunities offered by the University; or
- The conduct is sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive that its effect, whether or not intended, could be considered by a reasonable person in the shoes of the Complainant, and is in fact considered by the Complainant, as creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment.
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Sexual Harassment also includes acts of verbal, non-verbal or physical aggression, intimidation or hostility based on gender or sex-stereotyping, even if those acts do not involve conduct of a sexual nature.
Freedom of Speech and Artistic Expression
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: January 3, 2018San Jose State University formally reaffirms its commitment to freedom of speech and artistic expression through this presidential directive. Freedom of speech in this context will be taken to encompass all forms of communication and artistic expression as well as the freedom to listen, watch, protest, or otherwise participate in such communication.
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Because freedom of speech and expression play such a critical role in the functioning of a university, undue interference with the exercise of these freedoms by members of the San Jose State University community may constitute grounds for resort to law or other formal action.
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‘California Watch’: No Free Speech at California Colleges
January 7, 2011
Free speech is not safe at California colleges—not by a long shot. That’s what investigative reporter Erica Perez found in FIRE’s 2011 speech code report, as she wrote yesterday for California Watch: A new report from a national free speech advocacy organization found most of the four-year universities it surveyed had speech codes that substantially limit students’ freedom of speech, including dozens of colleges in California. […] Of the 33 California universities the organization rated, 64 percent got a red light, including San Diego State University, UC Santa Cruz and Claremont McKenna College. About 36 percent got a yellow light, including UC Berkeley, Occidental College and San Jose State University. […]
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Victory for Free Speech at San Jose State University: Administrators Lead the Way
February 8, 2010
There is good news today for students living in the residence halls at San Jose State University (SJSU). The housing department has revised several restrictive policies, including a previous FIRE Speech Code of the Month, thanks to the efforts of administrators seeking to protect the free speech rights of SJSU students. In April 2009, FIRE named SJSU our Speech Code of the Month for a housing policy providing that Any form of activity, whether covert or overt, that creates a significantly uncomfortable, threatening, or harassing environment for any UHS resident or guest will be handled judicially and may be grounds […]
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Speech Code of the Month: San Jose State University
April 1, 2009
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for April 2009: San Jose State University (SJSU). SJSU’s housing department maintains a policy on “harassment and/or assault” which provides: Any form of activity, whether covert or overt, that creates a significantly uncomfortable, threatening, or harassing environment for any UHS resident or guest will be handled judicially and may be grounds for immediate disciplinary action, revocation of the Housing License Agreement, and criminal prosecution. The conduct does not have to be intended to harass. The conduct is evaluated from the complainant’s perspective. The policy then provides examples of the types of conduct […]
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California Court Misses the Point on Freedom of Conscience
August 17, 2006
On Monday, a federal court in California issued what I find to be a disturbing opinion addressing the freedom of conscience of an education student at San Jose State University (SJSU). Plaintiff Stephen M. Head is an education student at SJSU who self-identifies as “libertarian or conservative” and as a Christian. He filed a pro se lawsuit (that is, representing himself without an attorney) against the university alleging, among other things, that his professor had violated his free speech rights by telling him that he was “unfit to teach” because of comments he made about immigration policy and by forbidding […]
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