School Spotlight
Tulane University
Location:
New Orleans, Louisiana
Type:
Private
Speech Code Rating
Tulane University 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.
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Technology Services: Acceptable Use Policy
Speech Code Rating: Red
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: September 6, 2021Respectful Communication. You agree to communicate only in ways that are kind and respectful. You agree to not intentionally access, transmit, copy, or create material that violates applicable laws or the University’s code of conduct (such as messages that are pornographic, threatening, rude, discriminator... Read MorePosting & Advertising Policy: Distribution/Solicitation
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: September 6, 2021Tulane University has a No Solicitation policy. Solicitations and promotions are not permitted on campus grounds or in campus buildings, including residence halls. The distribution (handing out to passers-by) of noncommercial, informational materials is allowed outside campus buildings only by recogn... Read MorePosting & Advertising Policy: General Guidelines for Posting on Bulletin Boards
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: September 6, 2021All materials to be posted must adhere to the following general publicity guidelines: … c. Publicity must not degrade groups or individuals. d. The Division of Campus Services reserves the right to reject publicity material if it is deemed inappropriate or if it fails to comply with the university g... Read MorePosting & Advertising Policy: Appendix IV: Housing & Residence Life Posting Policies
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: September 6, 2021Posters/flyers cannot mention or show: alcohol, drug use, gambling, profanity, discriminatory language or other violations of the code of Student Conduct and/or Community Living Standards. Read MoreCampus Demonstration Policy & Registration
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: September 6, 2021In order to ensure space, safety, and support for demonstrations and demonstrators, events must be registered at least two business days prior to the proposed demonstration date via the Demonstration Registration Form on WaveSync. The earlier an event is registered, the more time we have to meet to support o... Read MoreEqual Opportunity/Anti‐Discrimination Policies
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: September 6, 2021In addition, consistent with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the recognition that Sexual Harassment may also occur in a wider variety of contexts, Tulane also defines Sexual Harassment to include any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favors, or other unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, whet... Read MoreCampus Demonstration Policy & Registration: Philosophy
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: September 6, 2021Tulane University’s purpose is to create, communicate and conserve knowledge in order to enrich the capacity of individuals, organizations and communities to think, to learn and to act and lead with integrity and wisdom. In service to this purpose, Tulane recognizes the critically important historical and current ro... Read MoreEqual Opportunity/Anti‐Discrimination Policies
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: September 6, 2021The May 2020 amendments to the Title IX regulations (34 C.F.R. part 106) define Sexual Harassment as conduct on the basis of sex that must satisfy one or more of the following: … Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies... Read More
Policies are rated on their inclusion of 10 due process safeguards. Each policy may receive 2 points for fully including that safeguard, 1 point for partial inclusion, and 0 points for no meaningful inclusion. Most, but not all, institutions have separate policies for sexual misconduct and all other misconduct. See FIRE’s Spotlight on Due Process report for more information.
Grades
FIRE surveyed roughly 37,000 students at 154 colleges and universities about the climate for free speech at their institutions. In 2021, FIRE released rankings of those schools, based on a number of factors, including openness, tolerance, self-expression, administrative support for free speech, and campus policies, scoring overall speech climate on a scale from 0-100. See the full report on FIRE’s 2021 College Free Speech Rankings for more information.
Rankings / out of 154 colleges surveyed |
|
| Overall Ranking | 148 |
| Ideological Diversity | 117 |
Overall / out of a top score of 100 |
|
| Overall Score | 53.39 |
| Openness | 10.04 |
| Tolerance (Liberals) | 11.17 |
| Tolerance (Conservatives) | 7.14 |
| Administrative Support | 5.84 |
| Comfort | 15.32 |
| Disruptive Conduct | 9.89 |
| Speech Code | RED |
Tulane decides the show must not go on, shamefully postpones anti-racism event
August 11, 2020
An event aiming to confront one author’s family history of racism is “not only inappropriate but violent,” according to members of Tulane University’s student government who led the charge for its cancellation. Tulane planned to host an event on “Life of a Klansman: A Family History in White Supremacy” by Edward Ball on Aug. 6,… Read more
Worst IT Policies: Civility Edition
May 13, 2020
With students having shifted to online learning during COVID-19, FIRE is highlighting a selection of the college and university policies nationwide that most seriously restrict students’ online speech. Today, we’re looking at IT policies that require “civility” in online communications. Colleges are free to suggest, as an aspirational goal, that students be “civil” in their… Read more
Compelling ‘Civility’
June 1, 2012
Earlier this week, an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) discussed the growing popularity on college campuses of programs aimed at promoting civility. While one might reasonably ask whether there is a connection between exorbitant tuition rates, administrative bloat, and programs such as the "transformational, saturation approach" civility projects discussed in the… Read more
‘Tulane Hullabaloo’ on Tulane’s Speech Codes
February 3, 2012
Today, the editorial board of The Tulane Hullabaloo, the student paper at Tulane University, has written an editorial in support of FIRE’s analysis of Tulane’s "red light" policies. The piece quotes FIRE Senior Vice President Robert Shibley and calls for the university to promote free speech on campus. The editorial board writes, in part: "There’s… Read more
See No Evil: Tulane Students Vote to Ban Gossip Site ‘CollegeACB’
May 7, 2010
Torch readers will remember the controversy surrounding JuicyCampus.com, the much-reviled gossip website that was a frequent target of calls for banishment from university networks on the basis of the often salacious, sometimes malicious comments posted to it by students. JuicyCampus folded on February 4, 2009, but its spirit lives on in the form of CollegeACB.com…. Read more
Tulane University Contemplates Adopting ‘Preponderance of Evidence’ Standard for Student Judiciary Affairs
December 2, 2009
Tulane University’s Student Affairs Committee recently voted to pass a revised Student Code of Conduct that, among other measures, would lower the standard of evidence in student disciplinary matters from one of “clear and convincing evidence” to a “preponderance of evidence.” As the Tulane student newspaper The Hullabaloo reports, the new Code of Conduct still… Read more