State University of New York – Albany
Location: Albany, New York
Website: http://www.albany.edu
Type: Public
Federal Circuit: 2nd Circuit
Speech Code Rating
State University of New York – Albany has been given the speech code rating Red. A red light university has at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech. Read more here.
Red Light Policies
Sexual Harassment Policy
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: August 6, 2018Sexual Harassment in the Educational Setting is defined as:
Unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment can include unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment of denies or limits, on the basis of sex, the person’s ability to participate in or to receive benefits, services, or opportunities in the educational program and/or employment.
Community Rights and Responsibilities: Prohibited Conduct- Disruptive Conduct
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: August 6, 2018Impairing, interfering with or obstructing the orderly conduct, processes and functions of the University or surrounding community. This behavior includes, but is not limited to, excessive noise, abusive or obscene language in a public place …
Responsible Use of Information Technology
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: August 6, 2018Improper use includes, but is not limited to: unauthorized access to or misuse of network or electronic data in any form; the use of another’s computing account, circumventing network security measures; the use of University networks, computer resources or data for private, commercial or political purposes; harassment or defamation; the unauthorized alteration of electronic files; disruption or interference (hacking/spam/viral programs); software license or copyright violations; violations of federal or state law, or applicable SUNY or University at Albany policies.
Community Rights and Responsibilities: Supplemental Policies & Information- Harassment
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: August 6, 2018Harassment is repetitive behaviors intended to bully, intimidate or insult another individual and can have a chilling effect on a person’s living and learning environment.
Policy for Freedom of Expression
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: August 6, 2018The University reaffirms its commitment to the principle that the widest possible scope for freedom of expression is the foundation of an institution dedicated to vigorous inquiry, robust debate, and the continuous search for a proper balance between freedom and order. The University seeks to foster an environment in which persons who are on its campus legitimately may express their views as widely and as passionately as possible; at the same time, the University pledges to provide the greatest protection available for controversial, unpopular, dissident, or minority opinions. The University believes that censorship is always suspect, that intimidation is always repugnant, and that attempts to discourage constitutionally protected expression may be antithetical to the University’s essential missions: to discover new knowledge and to educate.
Community Rights and Responsibilities: Prohibited Conduct- Harassment
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: August 6, 2018Conduct that is so pervasive or severe that it effectively denies the individual reasonable access to University resources or opportunities.
Community Rights and Responsibilities: Prohibited Conduct- Sexual Harassment
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: August 6, 2018Unwelcome verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to effectively alter or deny the individual reasonable access to University resources or that such conduct creates an intimidating, hostile or sexually offensive environment for learning, working or living on campus.
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Colleges learning a tough lesson
June 1, 2006
Luke Daquino, a former University at Albany lacrosse player, said he never understood why today’s students bare their souls on the Internet. The growing popularity of Web sites such as http://www.myspace.com, http://www.facebook.com and http://www.webshots.com allow the college crowd to share personal information and photographs all over the country. “None of that stuff for me,” said Daquino, who graduated last year. “You put way too much stuff on there, you get yourself in trouble. Especially in college, people put pictures of everything that goes on, and they go everywhere.” Some colleges are finding that out the hard way. Photos of alleged […]
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Do you have the right to not be offended?
September 26, 2005
In many schools, speech codes and guidelines are written and enforced with the intention of protecting the general student body. Often, these codes are accepted with little to no opposition from faculty members or students. However, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education or FIRE, many rules attempting to regulate speech in colleges and universities, including UAlbany, violate the First Amendment. According to Samantha Harris, an attorney from FIRE, most universities tend to act “in loco parentis,” meaning they attempt to fulfill the role of parents on campus. “This approach is problematic because it limits a student’s right […]
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On campus, students fight to be right
May 1, 2005
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Last month at Skidmore College, a group of students planned a “Coming Out Day.” The students weren’t celebrating their sexuality, but their conservativeness. They belonged to the Young Republican Assembly. While the group wound up changing the name of the event because some students took offense, their decision to tag such a right-wing event with a moniker often associated with the left was no coincidence. The conservative movement on college campuses today is characterized by its adoption of concepts that the left has relied on for years. Now, when young Republicans speak out, they call for tolerance, […]
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OSPIRG: down but not out
April 8, 2005
In the middle of an unusually warm February earlier this year, the talk all over campus was OSPIRG. For the past three years, the activist group has wrangled with student government over how much money would be allocated to their efforts at PSU. This year, after two hours of deliberation OSPIRG got its answer. No large increase, no large payout. Student government again was not swayed by the group’s impassioned pleas for funding and sent them packing with thousands less than they had asked for. Students came pouring out of the meeting crying, aghast that their efforts had failed for […]
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Speech Code of the Month: SUNY Albany
January 25, 2017
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for January 2017: the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY Albany). According to SUNY Albany’s Sexual Harassment Policy, “sexual harassment in the educational setting” is defined as “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature,” including “verbal” conduct. This is an extremely broad definition that effectively encompasses any speech about sex or gender that someone subjectively finds offensive—rendering a great deal of constitutionally protected speech subject to punishment. SUNY Albany’s policy mirrors language put forth by the federal government in a 2013 resolution agreement among the University of Montana (UM) […]
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After Giving Accepted Students a Taste of Campus Censorship, SUNY Albany Recommits to Freedom of Expression
April 19, 2016
Every spring, colleges and universities across the country host accepted students and their families on campus tours to give them a sense of student life at their institutions. Sadly (though perhaps unsurprisingly, given trends elsewhere), a recent two-day open house at the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany) gave accepted students the inside scoop on an unappealing aspect of campus life: the willingness of some to engage in censorship. According to the Times Union, a SUNY Albany administrator directed copies of the student paper, which contained a front-page story covering a rise in campus sexual assaults, be […]
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Dorm Room Door Decorations Allowed… As Long as You Don’t Criticize the Food
October 14, 2009
FIRE is looking into this interesting case at SUNY Albany (University at Albany), where it has been reported that a student was ordered to remove from his dorm room door “a satirical representation of the definition of Chartwells food service” because it was said to be defacing campus property, while other students’ postings on their own doors were allowed to remain. More on this case later.
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Second Circuit: Allocation of Mandatory Student Activity Fees Cannot Hinge on Advisory Referenda
November 26, 2007
Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion in Amidon v. Student Ass’n of the State Univ. of N.Y., holding that the student government of the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY-Albany) cannot base allocation decisions about mandatory student activity fees upon the outcomes of student referenda, even when such referenda are merely “advisory.” Specifically, the Second Circuit ruled that SUNY-Albany’s Student Association (SA) violated the First Amendment by conducting advisory referenda votes of the student body to determine student support for particular funding decisions for certain registered student groups. The […]
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