Residence Hall Handbook: Posting of Information in Housing Facilities

Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: August 21, 2017

Materials that discriminate against any member of the University community or visitors on the campus through advertising of offensive behavior or events of a form of biased or prejudiced nature related to one’s personal characteristics, such as race, color, national origin, sex, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation will not be allowed.

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Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 708.0: Use of University Facilities and Outdoor Space

Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: August 21, 2017

Use of University facilities or space must not interfere with educational activities of the University. Moreover, such use is conditioned on receiving prior approval consistent with the procedures described below.

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Student reservations must be made through a registered student organization with the prior approval of the faculty or staff advisor.

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Those requesting a reservation of an outdoor University facility/space must complete a reservation form and submit the form to Facilities Management or the office responsible for the location to be used. 

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If (1) an event is expected to have 500 or more people in attendance; or (2) if a security assessment is requested by a university official; or (3) if, in the opinion of the organizer, the event might require security, then, in all such instances, the organizer must contact the Director of UAPD or the Director’s designee at least three business days prior to the event to enable an assessment of potential security needs, including estimated costs to the organizer. UAPD must certify that this review has been completed prior to University approval of the space reservation. If the Director or his designee recommends that security be provided for the event, UAPD will provide a brief description of the expected arrangements and estimated costs; such costs shall be the responsibility of the event organizer as a condition of approval of the reservation, along with any other required costs.

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Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 418.0: Sexual Harassment

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: August 21, 2017

Sexual harassment as defined by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and adapted to the academic environment consists of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct or written communication of a sexual nature, regardless of where such conduct might occur, when: … the conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or academic performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or learning environment.

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While the exact definitions and limits of a hostile or abusive environment continue to be delineated by the courts, case law indicates that such an environment exists when the workplace or educational environment is permeated by discriminatory intimidation, insults, and ridicule, such as sexual innuendos, uninvited sexual advances, sexually suggestive or discriminatory remarks, sexually suggestive or offensive signs, graffiti, or pictures, the use of sexually crude and vulgar language, etc. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that, to constitute sexual harassment, the offensive conduct must be sufficiently severe and pervasive that a reasonable person would find the conditions of the working or learning environment to have been adversely affected. The employee or student must also subjectively perceive the environment to be hostile or abusive.

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Sexual harassment can take many forms. Most sexual harassment falls into three categories: verbal, physical, and written or visual.

Verbal sexual harassment may include, but is not limited to:

• sexual innuendoes, comments, and suggestive remarks about clothing, a person’s body, or sexual activities;
• suggestive or insulting sounds;
• whistling in a suggestive manner;
• humor and jokes about sex;
• sexual propositions, invitations, or other pressure for sex; and
• implied or overt threats.

In most cases, a single offensive epithet would not constitute sexual harassment.

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Written or visual sexual harassment may occur when the following types of materials are directed to a specific individual or when people cannot reasonably avoid seeing them (the list is not inclusive):

• pictures or drawings of a sexual nature;
• sexually derogatory pin ups, posters, cartoons, magazines, or calendars;
• messages, words, comments, rhymes, or other writing of a sexually derogatory or suggestive nature.

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Student Handbook: Code of Student Life- Student Standards of Conduct

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: August 21, 2017

Sexual Harassment: Unwelcome comments or conduct based on gender that creates an intimidating or offensive working, learning, or living environment and that represents substantial interference with the rights or opportunities of the victim.  Such conduct includes, but is not limited to: … The use of phone, email, social media, or any other method to relay messages or materials of a sexual nature that are unwanted by the recipient.

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Student Handbook: Code of Student Life- Student Standards of Conduct

Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: August 21, 2017

Disorderly conduct including … uses abusive or obscene language or makes obscene gestures …

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Student Handbook: Code of Student Life- Student Standards of Conduct

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: August 21, 2017

Discrimination against any member of the University community or visitor, or in connection with any University activity through offensive behavior of a biased or prejudicial nature related to an individual’s personal characteristics, such as race, color, national origin, sex, religion, disability, age, or sexual orientation.

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Student Handbook: Code of Student Life- Student Standards of Conduct

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: August 21, 2017

Harassment or threats by means other than the use or threatened use of physical force.  Harassment is defined as any unwelcome conduct physical, verbal, graphic, written, or electronic or otherwise with the purpose to harass, annoy, or alarm another person, without good cause; and/or engages in conduct or repeatedly commits an act that alarms or seriously annoys another person and that serves no legitimate purpose; or places a person under surveillance for no purpose other than to harass, alarm, or annoy; and/or communicates with a person, anonymously or otherwise, by telephone, telegraph, mail, or any other form of written communication, in a manner likely to harass, annoy, or cause alarm.

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Student Handbook: Code of Student Life- The Meaning of a University

Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: August 21, 2017

No great university is merely a reflection of the society in which it exists. It is a place where truth is freely sought, where inquiry is encouraged, where new ideas and new ways may develop and flourish at the expense of the old. It is a seedbed of change in an ever-changing society. An academic community grows only when its members may act and express themselves freely and without fear.

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Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 201.0: Code of Computing Practices

Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: August 21, 2017

No one shall use the University’s computing and network resources to: (a) harass or threaten another person, including but not limited to, by conveying obscene language or images or threats of bodily harm; (b) repeatedly contact another person to harass, whether or not any actual message is communicated, and the recipient has expressed a desire for the contact to cease; (c) repeatedly contact another person regarding a matter for which one does not have a legal right to communicate (such as debt collection), once the recipient has provided reasonable notice that he or she desires such contact to cease; (d) disrupt or damage the academic, research, administrative, or related pursuits of another person; or (e) invade the privacy, academic or otherwise, of another person or threaten such an invasion.

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Free-speech group calls UA policies too restrictive

January 21, 2007

A recent report by a First Amendment advocacy group criticizes the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and schools nationwide for restricting speech on college campuses. The nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, based in Philadelphia, called suppression of First Amendment rights at U.S. colleges and universities a “national scandal.” The group gave UA and 228 other institutions across the country its “red light” ranking – the lowest mark – in the report “Spotlight on Speech Codes 2006: The State of Free Speech on Our Nation’s Campuses.” “Red light” institutions have “at least one policy that clearly and substantially restricts […]

UPDATE: University of Arkansas System adopts revised board policy

April 6, 2018

Last week, the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas System unanimously approved a revision to Board Policy 405.1 on “Appointment, Promotion, Tenure, Non-Reappointment, and Dismissal of Faculty.” As FIRE has discussed previously, this version of the policy revision represents an improvement to the one first proposed last fall, yet still has the potential to threaten academic freedom. In December of last year, FIRE wrote a letter to the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas System to urge against the adoption of the original revision. This revision listed a new definition of “cause” for termination: a “pattern […]

FIRE renews call to University of Arkansas System to reject proposed board policy

March 27, 2018

In a Dec. 5 letter, FIRE wrote to the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas System urging the Board to consider the pernicious threat to academic freedom posed by the proposed revisions to Board Policy 405.1 on “Appointment, Promotion, Tenure, Non-Reappointment, and Dismissal of Faculty.” With a new vote on the proposal slated for this week, we deem it necessary to once again warn of the proposed policy’s dangers and to recommend against its adoption. In FIRE’s view, the proposed policy’s original definition of “cause,” which included a “pattern of disruptive conduct or unwillingness to work productively with […]

FIRE to University of Arkansas System: Do not adopt proposed board policy 405.1

February 5, 2018

In a Dec. 5 letter, FIRE wrote to the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas System urging them to consider the pernicious threat to academic freedom posed by the proposed revisions to Board Policy 405.1 on “Appointment, Promotion, Tenure, Non-Reappointment, and Dismissal of Faculty.” Today — two months to the day after our letter went out — FIRE has not yet received a response from the Board. With a vote slated for next month, we deem it necessary to once again warn of the proposed policy’s dangers and caution against its adoption. In expressing disapproval of the proposed […]

Proposed University of Arkansas System policy spells trouble for academic freedom

November 3, 2017

The University of Arkansas System is considering changes to its tenure policies that some faculty are concerned will threaten academic freedom. Based on our experience and our observation of faculty disciplinary cases, their concerns are well-warranted. Law professor Joshua Silverstein of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has given the proposed revisions a hard look, and concludes they amount to “a striking attack on academic freedom and tenure,” zeroing in on one particularly troubling change. As part of a new definition of “cause,” the system’s draft policy lists a “pattern of disruptive conduct or unwillingness to work productively with […]

Public universities must resist pressure to discipline students for attending Charlottesville rally

August 21, 2017

Last weekend’s protests — and tragedy — in Charlottesville, Virginia, have left many grappling with the question of how to confront speech that offends their deepest-held values and beliefs. FIRE has always argued that the answer is to use one’s own expressive rights to counter ideas one finds offensive or harmful, rather than demanding reflexive censorship or, worse yet, resorting to violence. As the role of social media in our society grows, many have taken to that broad platform in attempts to combat hateful speech. Specifically, as reports from the Charlottesville rally began to roll in, people started publishing pictures […]

University of Arkansas Student Newspaper Reacts to School’s ‘Red Light’ Ranking

January 26, 2007

An editorial in Wednesday’s edition of The Traveler, the University of Arkansas’ (UA’s) student newspaper, reported that some members of the paper’s editorial staff reacted to the school’s “red light” ranking in FIRE’s “Spotlight on Speech Codes 2006: The State of Free Speech on Our Nation’s Campuses,” with little more than an “apathetic shrug.” The reason for the indifference was not that the student editors don’t care about UA’s unconstitutional policies concerning speech. They do. As they describe themselves, The Traveler’s staff is a “terribly proud group, always ready to thrust our flaming pens of truth into the air and cry […]