School Spotlight
Scottsdale Community College
Speech Code Rating
- At present, FIRE does not maintain information on this school's policies.
Scottsdale Community College: Administrators Promise Professor Will Apologize and Change Course Content After Student Objects to Quiz Questions
May 11, 2020
Near the end of the Spring 2020 semester, Scottsdale Community College professor Nicholas Damask administered a quiz in his World Politics course, which covered a unit on “Islamic Terrorism.” After controversy surrounding the quiz questions broke out on social media, Scottsdale promised Damask would issue an apology—written for him by a marketing administrator—to a student… Read more
Federal appeals court affirms dismissal of student’s lawsuit against Arizona community college over quiz questions about Islamic terrorism
August 16, 2022
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit involving a Scottsdale Community College student who asserted a constitutional right to be free from messages “disapproving” of his religion. Rewind to the spring 2020 semester. Nicholas Damask, professor of world politics at SCC, administered a quiz… Read more
Arizona community college to pay $155K settlement for directing professor to apologize for Islamic terrorism quiz question
April 13, 2021
Maricopa County Community College District will pay professor Nicholas Damask $155,000 in exchange for his agreement not to sue district personnel, who last year violated his expressive rights in an attempt to quell criticism of his quiz questions on social media. The district also pledged to strengthen its commitment to academic freedom. Damask, who teaches… Read more
Federal court rejects unsound lawsuit targeting college course discussing Islamic terrorism
August 18, 2020
This morning, a federal court in Arizona dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Council on American Islamic Relations of Arizona seeking to prevent a Scottsdale Community College professor from continuing to teach a course on Islamic terrorism. The dispute erupted in May, when Scottsdale Community College administrators pressured professor Nicholas Damask to issue an apology… Read more
Atheists beware: a new lawsuit tries to turn the Establishment Clause into a blasphemy law for college professors
July 20, 2020
If you believe in religious freedom, freedom of conscience, free-speech, or academic freedom you should definitely be interested in a new lawsuit out of Arizona. The lawsuit essentially argues that in-classroom speech critical of religion isn’t just unprotected, it could actually be a constitutional violation itself. The lawsuit was in response to an incident at… Read more