Stevens Institute of Technology
Location: Hoboken, New Jersey
Website: http://www.stevens.edu
Type: Private
Federal Circuit: 3rd Circuit
Speech Code Rating
Stevens Institute of Technology 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
Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: February 9, 2018While the Internet is considered a public electronic highway, the Stevens network is a private resource. As such, access and use of the network must [be] in accordance with Stevens’ rules and policies as well as all legal regulations. Therefore, the following actions are strictly prohibited:
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* Use of offensive or discriminatory language.
* Transmission of any graphic image, sound or text that is sexual in nature.
*Harass, threaten, or otherwise invade the privacy of others.Student Handbook: Preserving Academic Freedom
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: February 9, 2018The following are set forth in the interest of ensuring due consideration of the privileges and obligations of all members of the Stevens community, undergraduate, graduate, faculty and staff:
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3. Peaceful demonstrations or similar actions will be allowed on the Stevens campus by Stevens personnel provided:
a. Such actions do not interfere with the normal operations and activities of the Institute.
b. Vile or offensive language is not used, either in oral or written form.
c. There is no harassment of individuals, either of a physical or oral nature.
d. There is no impairment or destruction of property.
4.Requests by student organizations or individual students for the use of Stevens property must go through the Office of Undergraduate Student Life for approval. Similar requests from faculty or staff members are to be sent directly to the University Events Office with the approval of the appropriate department head.
Student Handbook: Student Code of Conduct
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: February 9, 2018All individuals shall conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the mission of the university. Students are expected to demonstrate integrity by maintaining an ongoing dedication to honesty and responsibility, to demonstrate trustworthiness by acting in a reliable and dependable manner, and to show respect by treating others with civility and decency. Any student who fails to conduct themselves in such a manner violates this code and a disciplinary sanction may be imposed.
Student Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- Abuse and Harassment
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: February 9, 20181. Abuse and Harassment
a. Physical or violent verbal abuse of any person.
b. Conduct that threatens or endangers the physical or mental health or safety of any person including oneself.
c. Actions that amount to intimidation or harassment (physical or verbal).
d. Harassing, in person, by telephone, in writing, or by other means, annoying or alarming another person, attempting or threatening to strike, kick or otherwise subject another person to physical contact, addressing abusive language to any person, following a person in or about an university location or locations, or engaging in a course of conduct or repeatedly committing acts that alarm or seriously disturb another person.
e. Abuse, harassment, or violence that is motivated by bias or hate.Policy on Discrimination, Harassment and Bias Incidents
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: February 9, 2018Harassment is unwelcome, offensive conduct that occurs on the basis of a Protected Characteristic. It is a form of discrimination and violates this Policy. Conduct that violates this Policy is not necessarily a violation of the law. While it is not possible to identify every form of conduct that can constitute harassment, harassing conduct can occur in various forms, including:
• Verbal Harassment, including unwelcome sexually suggestive, demeaning or graphic comments; using ethnic, racial, religious or other slurs to refer to a person; jokes or comments that demean a person, in each case on the basis of a Protected Characteristic;
• Physical Harassment, including unwanted sexual contact; sexual intimidation through physical threats; physical threats toward or intimidation of another person, in each case on the basis of a Protected Characteristic;
• Visual Harassment, including exposing another person to unwanted pornographic images; creating or displaying racially, ethnically or religiously offensive pictures, symbols, cartoons or graffiti; and
• Communication-Based Harassment, including phone calls, emails, text messages, chats or blogs that offend, demean or intimidate another person, in each case on the basis of a Protected Characteristic.
A hostile environment is created when the offensive behavior reaches a level of severity or pervasiveness that it interferes with a reasonable person’s ability to participate in the University’s programs (i.e., to work and to learn). A determination as to whether harassment occurred depends on the totality of the circumstances, including the context of a communication or incident, the relationship of the individuals involved in the communication or incident, whether an incident was an isolated incident or part of a broader pattern or course of offensive conduct, the seriousness or severity of the incident, the intent of the individual who engaged in the allegedly offensive conduct, and its effect or impact on the individual and the learning community. The fact that a person was personally offended by a statement or incident does not alone constitute a violation of this Policy.
Policy on Gender-Based and Sexual Misconduct
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: February 9, 2018C. Sexual Harassment: Unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature or on the basis of sex, including unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, acts of sexual violence, or other verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct, when one of the following conditions is present: … • The conduct is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it unreasonably interferes with, limits, or denies an individual’s participation in or benefit from any educational experience, working conditions or campus living conditions by creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment when viewed from a subjective and an objective perspective.
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Examples of sexual harassment, if sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive, include, but are not limited to:
• Pressure for sexual activity, sexual favors or a romantic or intimate relationship;
• Unwelcome touching of a person’s body, hair or clothing;
• Verbal abuse or hostile behavior such as insulting, teasing, mocking, degrading or ridiculing another person or group based on gender or sex;
• Unwelcome jokes, comments or questions about gender or sex (including favorable comments about someone’s gender, body, clothing, appearance);
• Asking about a person’s sexual activities or interests;
• Repeatedly asking for a date or making other romantic or sexual advances after the person has said “no”;
• Nonverbal behavior, such as making sexual gestures with hands or through body movements;
• Displaying sexually discriminatory or explicit posters or pictures; and
• Electronic and other forms of communications including e-mail, text messaging and internet use, that violate this Policy.Faculty Handbook: Policies and Procedures for Preserving Academic Freedom on the Stevens Campus
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: February 9, 2018Stevens Institute of Technology’s central functions of teaching, learning, research, and scholarship depend upon an atmosphere in which freedom of inquiry, thought, expression, publication, and peaceable assembly are given the fullest protection. Expression of the widest range of viewpoints is encouraged, free from institutional orthodoxy and from internal or external coercion.
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Why Did Stevens Institute of Technology Eliminate Free Speech Protections?
April 19, 2010
If you are a student at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, you should be aware that your university has eliminated significant protections for free speech from its Student Handbook. The list of “student rights” in previous versions of the Handbook included the “constitutional rights of freedom of expression and assembly, and the rights of freedom of press for all student publications” as well as the “freedom to write and distribute printed material for reasons that are not commercial without the exercise of prior restraint.” In the 2009-2010 Student Handbook, those two rights are notably absent from the list […]
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Happy Valentine’s Day—Harasser!
February 14, 2006
Today, as we all know, is Valentine’s Day. It’s a day for love, mushy cards, chocolate, flowers, hearts, romantic dinners, and—harassment. Or at least that’s what many university administrators seem to think. Take, for example, Stevens Institute of Technology, FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month school for December. Stevens bans “comments regarding a person’s attire, body or reputation” under its sexual harassment policy. One might wonder, then, why The Vagina Monologues, which includes segments on such topics as “what my vagina smells like,” is being performed there next week. Watch out for those “comments regarding a person’s…body”! And […]
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Speech Codes of the Year: 2005
December 29, 2005
An outrageous number of colleges and universities severely restrict their students’ expressive rights—so many that researching and analyzing these restrictions is my full-time job. As 2005 draws to a close, I would like to highlight just a few of the particularly outrageous (but, sadly, quite common) restrictions that I found in the course of my research this year. These institutions should be ashamed of themselves. Stevens Institute of Technology provides students with a laundry list of behaviors that constitute sexual harassment, including “sexist jokes,” “comments regarding a person’s attire,” “displaying or discussing materials pertaining to males or females in a […]
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Speech Code of the Month: Stevens Institute of Technology
December 1, 2005
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for December 2005: Stevens Institute of Technology. Although Stevens is a private institution, it promises its students “[t]he constitutional rights of freedom of expression and assembly” and “the right of freedom to hear and participate in dialogue and to examine diverse views and ideas.” Unfortunately, Stevens maintains a sexual harassment policy that strips students of the very rights it promises. Stevens’ policy goes into great detail about the various types of speech it bans. It bans “sexual/sexist jokes,” “comments regarding a person’s attire, body or reputation,” “propositions,” “offensive sexual flirtations,” and “displaying […]
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