Student Handbook: Posters, Notices, and Materials Distribution Policy

Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: May 12, 2016

Distribution by a University person is generally limited to the entrances to Spragins Hall and the Fitness Center and to the northerly entrance to and main lobby/foyer area of the University Center. Distribution by a University organization may occur, in addition to the foregoing locations, in the lobby areas of University academic and administrative buildings, residence halls, and the Library.

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Policy 02.01.45: Electronic Mail and Other Electronic Communications (Interim)

Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: May 13, 2016

Any inappropriate e-mail, examples of which are described below and elsewhere in this policy, is prohibited. Users receiving such e-mail should immediately contact OIT.

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Student Handbook: Code of Conduct- Other Physical or Mental Abuse or Harm

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: May 12, 2016

Harassment. Subjecting a person to physical contact or directing language or a gesture that is abusive or obscene toward a person, with the intent to harass. … Some examples of prohibited behavior include, but are not limited to, physical abuse or assault, verbal abuse, harassment, coercion, murder, battery, stalking, telephone harassment, computer related harassment via social networks, email, or text messages, threats, intimidation, and any other conduct that threatens the health or safety of any person

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Student Handbook: Code of Conduct- Disorderly or Indecent Conduct

Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: May 12, 2016

Conduct that is disorderly or that breaches the peace on or off campus. The essential element to such conduct shall be an intentional causing of or recklessly creating a risk of inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm without proper authority.

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Student Handbook: Code of Conduct- Misuse/Abuse of Computing Resources

Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: May 12, 2016

Use of electronic resources to send obscene, harassing or abusive messages to any person.

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Student Handbook: Equal Employment, Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action Policy

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: May 12, 2016

Discrimination, under this policy, shall be understood to include harassment carried out through unwelcome verbal, visual, or physical conduct directed at one or more individuals on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, disability, citizenship, genetic information or status as a covered veteran.

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With regards to students, such harassment is unlawful when it unreasonably interferes with or limits the student’s ability to participate in or benefit from services, activities, or privileges provided by the educational institution. A violation also occurs when, through such harassment, an educational institution has created or is responsible for a hostile learning environment so severe, pervasive, or persistent that it adversely affects the student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the institution’s educational program.

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Sexual harassment, in addition and more specifically, includes sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other conduct of a sexual nature that is unwelcome and is directed toward a person on the basis of that person’s sex. It may take one of two generally recognized forms. … [H]ostile environment harassment occurs when the conduct is so severe, persistent, or pervasive that it unreasonably interferes with an individual’s performance as an employee or student or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working/learning environment. Examples of actions that might be deemed to create a hostile environment based on sex could include flirtation, vulgar language, sexually suggestive jokes, touching of a sexual nature, displaying or distributing sexually explicit materials, etc

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Guide to Residence Living: Windows and Stairwell Railings

Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: May 13, 2016

The University reserves the right to remove anything from the exterior of your residence unit (including suite door), or from the interior if visible from the outside, which in its judgment is considered to create an unsightly or offensive appearance, and/or creates a hazardous condition.

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2016 Commencement Season Relatively Calm, But Lacks Viewpoint Diversity

May 2, 2016

By Stephanie Keaveny at The John William Pope Center Each year commencement season brings the opportunity for celebrities and politicians to speak to college graduates and impart sage advice… Read more here.

Troy art student sues after nude photos banned

November 1, 2005

An art student sued Troy University on Monday, saying the school violated his free speech rights by censoring his artwork and implementing a campus speech code that unconstitutionally restricts speech. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Montgomery, contends Troy officials removed portions of Blake Dews’ artwork because it featured female nudity. The university issued a statement defending its decision on Dews’ art. ”The photographs in question displayed male full frontal nudity and the university did not consider the photographs to be consistent with our community ‘s standards,” the statement said. ”This is a matter now under litigation and […]

‘Disinvitation Season’ 2016 Begins: Cue the Commencement Controversies

April 28, 2016

POLITICO gave a rundown earlier this week of the after students and faculty members protested the selected speakers and honorees. Unsurprisingly, there are many. Among the notable examples are the University of Notre Dame for asking both former Speaker of the House John Boehner and Vice President Joe Biden to speak, the University of Alabama at Huntsville for inviting Senator Jeff Sessions, and Scripps College for its choice of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Of course, these controversies are not unique: “disinvitation season,” as we call it here at FIRE, comes around this time every year, when students and […]