School Spotlight
Sinclair Community College
Speech Code Rating
- At present, FIRE does not maintain information on this school's policies.
Sinclair Community College: Police Ban Signs at Religious Freedom Rally
June 15, 2012
On June 8, 2012, SCC’s Traditional Values Club student group hosted an on-campus religious freedom rally to protest health coverage mandates from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. SCC police declared that signs of any kind, pro or con, were not allowed at the event and ordered all signs to be placed on… Read more
Sinclair Community College: Unconstitutional Ban on Distributing Literature After Class
February 22, 2011
Ethel Borel-Donohue, a student in SCC’s Paralegal Program, peacefully distributed fliers regarding abortion, birth control, and breast cancer, after a class session. Days later, Borel-Donohue was summoned to the office of Judge Michael Brigner, Paralegal Program Chair. In a meeting in November 2010, Brigner reportedly stated that another student had complained to him about being “offended by… Read more
Sinclair Community College administrators threatened to void student election over food stamps platform
March 13, 2017
After tutoring students at Dayton, Ohio’s Sinclair Community College (SCC) who struggled to afford food, Forest Wilson recently ran for president of the student senate on a platform premised on, among other things, allowing SCC students to use food stamps (EBT or SNAP funds) on campus. The results of the election are pending, but with… Read more
At Sinclair, Liability Concerns Trump Students’ Expressive Rights
November 15, 2013
Mark Twain once quipped that we have “three unspeakably precious things” in America: “freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.” After all, expressing oneself can be very dangerous. Sinclair Community College thinks so, anyway. You might recall that the college made headlines last year after police forced… Read more
Victory: Ohio College Settles First Amendment Lawsuit, Scraps Speech Code
March 12, 2013
Here’s today’s press release: DAYTON, Ohio, March 12, 2013—Ohio’s Sinclair Community College (SCC) has settled a First Amendment lawsuit by revising an unconstitutional speech code that prohibited students and visitors from holding signs on campus. The plaintiffs’ attorneys confirmed this week that the terms of the settlement have been accepted by the Ohio Attorney General’s… Read more
Victory: Ohio College Settles First Amendment Lawsuit, Scraps Speech Code
March 12, 2013
DAYTON, Ohio, March 12, 2013—Ohio’s Sinclair Community College (SCC) has settled a First Amendment lawsuit by revising an unconstitutional speech code that prohibited students and visitors from holding signs on campus. The plaintiffs’ attorneys confirmed this week that the terms of the settlement have been accepted by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The lawsuit, filed… Read more
‘Leaked’ Sinclair CC ‘Memo’ Explains Terrorism Concerns Behind Sign Ban
July 18, 2012
Intrepid investigative blogger "Ken" of the Popehat blog gets into the spirit of Woodward and Bernstein with his posting of a really super authentic memo that is really, actually from Sinclair Community College President Steven L. Johnson. The memo explains why President Johnson might have claimed that the college’s ban on signs at protests is related… Read more
Sinclair Community College: Signs Just Too Dangerous for Campus
July 17, 2012
Believe it or not, Sinclair Community College (SCC) is insisting that its unconstitutional sign ban is all about student safety. Here’s SCC President Steven Lee Johnson, as quoted in today’s Dayton Daily News: Johnson told the Dayton Daily News that Sinclair, which has about 23,000 students at its downtown campus, is committed to being "a bastion… Read more
Ohio College Sued for Censoring Pro-Life Event
July 6, 2012
DAYTON, Ohio, July 6, 2012—Today, Ohio’s Sinclair Community College (SCC) is the target of a First Amendment lawsuit following the college’s brazen violation of students’ First Amendment rights. At an on-campus rally protesting new health coverage mandates from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, police officers forced event attendees and participants to put… Read more
Sinclair Community College: Enforcing Unconstitutional Sign Policy for Decades
June 28, 2012
This month, FIRE uncovered an outrageous unwritten policy banning all signs from events held on campus at Sinclair Community College (SCC) in Dayton, Ohio. The policy came to light when students and other demonstrators peacefully holding signs at a religious freedom rally were asked to take down their signs by campus police earlier this month… Read more
‘Signs of trouble for free speech at Sinclair CC’
June 25, 2012
FIRE’s Peter Bonilla has a column in the Daily Caller about Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. Its "bizarro world" policy says that students—yes, students in America!—can be prevented from carrying signs during a rally. If you can’t quite make yourself believe this (which is understandable), Peter has the video evidence that shows this actually… Read more
Sinclair CC Students: Have You Been Censored by SCC’s Sign Ban? Tell FIRE!
June 22, 2012
As we noted this week, Sinclair Community College in Ohio recently censored the free speech of participants and attendees at a religious freedom rally hosted by SCC’s Traditional Values Club. As photo and video evidence shows, police at the event forced all attendees to put away handheld signs supporting the event—a blatantly unconstitutional restriction of… Read more
Sinclair CC Police Ban Signs at Religious Freedom Rally
June 19, 2012
FIRE has written to Sinclair Community College after learning of the disturbing and unconstitutional censorship of signs at a June 8 "Stand Up for Religious Freedom" rally held on the Dayton, OH, campus and hosted by SCC’s Traditional Values Club (TVC). As photo and video evidence shows, police ordered the participants at the June 8 rally to put away… Read more
Ohio College to Review Ban on Peaceful Distribution of Literature on Campus
May 23, 2011
Ohio’s Sinclair Community College (SCC) has announced that it will review an unconstitutional policy that prohibits all distribution of literature on campus by individual students. SCC banned a student from distributing literature about abortion, birth control, and breast cancer to her classmates after class. After FIRE intervened, the Chair of SCC’s Board of Trustees, Lawrence… Read more
FIRE Keeps the Heat on Sinclair Community College
May 6, 2011
FIRE has asked the Board of Trustees of Sinclair Community College (SCC) to do what SCC President Steven Lee Johnson has refused to do: revise SCC’s unconstitutional distribution policies to preserve First Amendment rights for SCC students. FIRE’s letter to Board of Trustees Chair Lawrence Porter points out that SCC maintains two policies that not… Read more
Robert in ‘Pajamas Media’ on Pamphleteering and Political Correctness
April 25, 2011
In his latest article for Pajamas Media, Robert criticizes the censorship of Ethel Borel-Donohue at Sinclair Community College (SCC). Torch readers will remember that Borel-Donohue was banned from distributing literature on abortion, birth control, and breast cancer to her classmates after class. Robert presents the evidence that SCC censored Borel-Donahue not because of its unconstitutional… Read more
This Week in the News: Whistleblowing UCLA Professor Still Making Headlines and Hamilton College Wins Muzzle Award
April 15, 2011
UCLA’s gross violation of the rights of Dr. Enstrom, the whisteblowing professor fighting for his job after being told he did not fit his department’s "mission," continued to elicit outrage in the media this week. Debra Saunders of the San Francisco Chronicle published both a column (reprinted in Townhall.com) and a shorter blog post (containing… Read more
This Week in the News: Hearings Begin for Whistleblowing UCLA Professor
April 8, 2011
Hearings for University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) professor and scientist James Enstrom began on Monday of this week. Torch readers will remember that Dr. Enstrom is fighting for his job after UCLA retaliated against him for his exposure of a California Air Resources Board (CARB) scientist with a fake Ph.D. as well as other… Read more
Ohio College Prohibits Student from Peacefully Distributing Literature on Abortion, Birth Control
April 6, 2011
DAYTON, Ohio, April 6, 2011—Sinclair Community College has banned a student from distributing literature about abortion, birth control, and breast cancer to her classmates after class. The college also bans all distribution of literature on vast areas of campus. Student Ethel Borel-Donohue, who never disrupted class with her literature, came to the Foundation for Individual… Read more