California: Unconstitutional Discriminatory Harassment Policies

August 1, 2009

University of California at Irvine: Suppression of Affirmative Action Bake Sale

January 15, 2003

The University of California at Irvine (UCI) has decided not to interfere with the College Republicans’ affirmative action bake sale. The bake sale protest was halted when administrators ordered them to remove the satirical price list for their doughnuts, saying it violated the university’s nondiscrimination policy. When student organizer Bryan Zuetel offered to change the price list to a “suggested price” list, he was told that this would still violate the policy. Barred from communicating their message, the students ended the protest. UCI later reversed course after the College Republicans agreed to list their prices as “suggested prices.” Greg Lukianoff […]

Sec. 714-18: Computer and Network Use Policy

Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

Examples of misuse include, but are not limited to: … Using computers, electronic mail or any other form of computer network based communication to act abusively toward others or to provoke a violent reaction, such as stalking, acts of bigotry, threats of violence, or other hostile or intimidating “fighting words.” Such words include those terms widely recognized to victimize or stigmatize individuals on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, and other protected characteristics.

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Office of Student Conduct: Principles of Community

Speech Code Category: Policies Restricting Freedom of Conscience
Last updated: March 1, 2016

Our legacy for an increasingly multicultural academic community and for a learning climate free from expressions of bigotry is drawn from the United States and California Constitutions and from the charter of the University of California, which protects diversity and reaffirms our commitment to the protection of lawful free speech. Affirmation of that freedom is an effective way of ensuring that acts of bigotry and abusive behavior will not go unchallenged within the University. Tolerance, civility and mutual respect for diversity of background, gender, ethnicity, race, and religion is as crucial within our campus community as is tolerance, civility and mutual respect for diversity of political beliefs, sexual orientation, and physical abilities.

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All who work, live, study, and teach at UCI are here by choice and, as part of that choice, should be committed to these Principles of Community which are an integral part of the guidelines by which the University community can successfully conduct its affairs.

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Student Housing: Principles of Community

Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: March 1, 2016

[E]veryone who chooses to live in, work in, or visit our residential communities must understand that we will not tolerate any form of bigotry, harassment, intimidation, threat, or abuse, whether verbal or written, physical or psychological, direct or implied. Alcohol or substance abuse, ignorance, or humorous intent will not be accepted as an excuse. We will respond to such behavior in a manner consistent with our educational mission and our policies for behavior on campus and in housing.

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Housing Policies: Bullying/Cyber Bullying

Speech Code Category: Bullying Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

Bullying/Cyber Bullying, defined as the process of intimidating or mistreating somebody weaker or in a more vulnerable situation. Persons involved in harassment or bullying/cyber bullying will face student conduct action and may be referred to Student Life and Leadership Office.

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Housing Policies: Violence, Abuse, and Threatening Behavior

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

Both direct and indirect forms of verbal and written abuse, threats, physical harassment, intimidation, and violence against another person or their property, as well as conduct that threatens the health and safety of self (including threats or attempts of suicide), are prohibited within housing communities or on the campus at large.

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University of California Campus Climate

Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: March 1, 2016

If you experience or observe behavior that is inconsistent with our Principles of Community, please report it. You may report in a variety of ways: *Report anonymously or by name, via this Campus Climate page, by selecting the University of California campus where the incident occurred from the list to the right and clicking “Continue”. * Report anonymously to an appropriate campus office, based on the nature of the incident. Please refer to the website for the campus where the incident occurred. * Report anonymously via your campus’ Bias Reporting page, by selecting your campus from the Local Bias Reporting menu above. If your campus does not appear on this list, there is no local reporting form available. Please use this form, instead. * File a report with your Campus Police Department, via the Campus Police menu above.

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Expressions of Bias: A general communication not directed toward a particular individual, which disparages a group of people on the basis of some characteristic ….

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Hate Speech: Hate speech is any speech, gesture or conduct, writing, or display that may incite violence or prejudicial action against someone based on actual or perceived race, color, ancestry, gender, gender identity, ethnicity ….

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Office of Student Conduct: Policy on Speech and Advocacy

Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

On University grounds open to the public generally, all persons may exercise the constitutionally protected rights of free expression, speech, and assembly.

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Office of Student Conduct: Grounds for Discipline

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

Harassment, defined as conduct that is so severe and/or pervasive, and objectively offensive, and that so substantially impairs a person’s access to University programs or activities that the person is effectively denied equal access to the University’s resources and opportunities.

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Rights of Free Speech and Academic Freedom

Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: March 1, 2016

The exercise and protection of freedom of speech and expression are at the core of the University’s mission of teaching, research and public service.

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Sec. 700-18: Guidelines for Reporting and Responding to Reports of Discrimination and Harassment

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

Harassment [based upon race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic characteristics), genetic information (including family medical history), ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or service in the uniformed services] is defined as unwelcome conduct, including verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct, that explicitly or implicitly affects a person’s employment or education or interferes with a person’s work or educational performance or creates an environment such that a reasonable person would find the conduct intimidating, hostile, or offensive. Harassment as used in these guidelines can include Sexual Harassment.

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Sexual Harassment is unwelcome sexual advances, unwelcome requests for sexual favors, and other unwelcome verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: …  such conduct is sufficiently severe or pervasive that it unreasonably denies, adversely limits, or interferes with a person’s participation in or benefit from the education, employment or other programs and services of the University and creates an environment that a reasonable person would find to be intimidating or offensive.

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University of California Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 1, 2016

Sexual Harassment is unwelcome sexual advances, unwelcome requests for sexual favors, and other unwelcome verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: … such conduct is sufficiently severe or pervasive that it unreasonably denies, adversely limits, or interferes with a person’s participation in or benefit from the education, employment or other programs and services of the University and creates an environment that a reasonable person would find to be intimidating or offensive.

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Students in California Might Face Criminal Investigation for Protesting Film on Israeli Army

June 23, 2016

By Murtaza Hussain at The Intercept LAST MONTH, A GROUP OF STUDENTS at University of California at Irvine gathered to protest a screening of the film “Beneath the Helmet,” a documentary about the lives of recruits in the Israeli Defense Forces. Upset about the screening of a film they viewed as propaganda for a foreign military, the students were also protesting the presence of several IDF representatives who here holding a panel discussion at the screening… Read more here.

When Protests Obstruct Free Speech

May 26, 2016

By Ellen Wexler at Inside Higher Ed Sitting on the stage at DePaul University Tuesday, Milo Yiannopoulos spoke without incident for around 15 minutes, offering his trademark inflammatory criticisms of feminism, the transgender rights movement and campus politics. And then the conversation turned to microaggressions… Read more here.

UC’s List of Banned Words is not a ‘Policy,’ Professor Insists at Microaggression Debate

October 7, 2015

By College Fix Staff at The College Fix UPDATED It’s just ‘guidelines’ and it’s based on ‘research’ Nobody at the University of California will be punished for saying “America is the land of opportunity” or asking a foreign-looking student “where are you from?” That was the repeated claim by a UC-Irvine professor during a heated discussion about microaggressions at the campus Tuesday night, moderated by Southern California Public Radio. The impetus for the event was UC’s “training sessions” in the previous academic year, in which deans and department chairs were instructed not to use certain words or phrases that could offend minority populations. […]

UC Irvine Orientation Tells Freshman to Ask Before they Touch

August 24, 2015

By William Bigelow at Breitbart Incoming freshman at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) learned at their orientation that any sexual encounters must be accompanied by a step-by-step list of requests before any action can be consummated. As hundreds of eager students watched, a video showed actors in an educational video offering examples of the proper method of sexual courtship, including definitions of “consent” and what questions to ask before initiating contact, according to The Orange County Register. Definitions of “consent” included: “It’s talking about what you like” and “Consent is knowing your partner wants you as much as you […]

Flag Ban On College Campus Was Foolish Idea

March 15, 2015

By Staff at The Grand Island Independent The American flag means so much to so many. It’s a symbol of freedom that represents the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, the right to bear arms and many other freedoms that Americans enjoy. The flag also symbolizes what so many brave men and women have fought for over the centuries, with many giving their lives for their country and the cause of freedom.   That’s why it was troubling to so many when the news came that student government representatives at the University of […]

Flag Flap at California School Raises Free Speech Debate

March 12, 2015

By Gillian Flaccus at The Associated Press When student government representatives at the University of California, Irvine voted to ban all flags — including the American one — from their tiny office, they thought they had found a solution to a battle over freedom of speech that began when someone first tacked a U.S. flag to the wall in January. The flag had been at the center of an increasingly bitter game of cat-and-mouse, with some students taking it down repeatedly and others replacing it in the dark of night. Last week, six student legislative council members passed a resolution banning […]

AT UC Irvine, Some Say Furor Over Attempted U.S. Flag Ban Is Overblown

March 10, 2015

By Emily Foxhall and Teresa Watanabe at Los Angeles Times UC Irvine students Prasoon Saurabh and Jinfeng Li both hang U.S. flags in their apartments. Saurabh, a 26-year-old graduate student in chemistry, also hangs flags from Ecuador, Argentina, Germany, France, Brazil, China and other countries to celebrate the diverse homelands of his many friends. So Saurabh is bemused by the national furor sparked by news that six members of a student government council voted last week to ban flags of any country in their office lobby. Although the action was quickly vetoed by the student body’s executive cabinet and denounced […]

Fascism, The First Amendment And Hate Speech

March 7, 2015

By Gary Gross at Examiner.com The Associated Students of University of California, Irvine voted to ban the hanging of flags in its main lobby in the name of inclusion: “The Associated Students of University of California, Irvine (ASUCI) voted Tuesday to remove all flags, including American flags, from an inclusive space on campus because of their offensive nature. The bill, R50-70, was authored by Social Ecology Representative Matthew Guevara, and accuses all flags, especially, theAmerican flag, of being “symbols of patriotism or weapons for nationalism.” “[F]lags construct paradigms of conformity and sets [sic] homogenized standards for others to obtain which […]

UC Irvine protest case raises questions about discipline practices

June 21, 2010

by Raja Abdulrahim and Larry Gordon Los Angeles Times   View this article at Los Angeles Times

On campus, is heckling free speech? Or just rude?

February 17, 2010

Every few minutes during a talk last week at the University of California at Irvine, the same thing happened. A student would get up, shout something critical of Israel, be applauded by some in the audience, and be led away by police. The speaker –Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States – was repeatedly forced to stop his talk. He pleaded for the right to continue, and continued. University administrators lectured the students and asked them to let Oren speak. In the end, 11 students were arrested and they may also face charges of violating university rules. (Video of […]

The Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today, and the Pasadena Star-News on FIRE

March 3, 2004

Universities still do not comprehend that their contempt for free speech places them far, far outside of the mainstream of American public opinion. In particular, they seem continually surprised that the media, who live or die by the Bill of Rights, understand freedom of expression full well. The March 1 lead editorial of The Philadelphia Inquirer, an editorial in today’s USA Today, and yet another editorial in the Pasadena Star-News offer a compelling textbook education, if academic administrators are willing to listen, in the relationship of higher education and freedom of speech.

That’s how the free speech crumbles

February 9, 2004

On campus, free speech causes indigestion

February 8, 2004

‘Affirmative-action bake sale’ restored

February 3, 2004

The Conservative Cookie Rebellion

December 16, 2003

Bake-Off! UCI shuts down doughnut sale, free speech imperiled

October 17, 2003

By Gustavo Arellano at Orange County Weekly The battle over free speech at UC Irvine hangs on a fritter. On Sept. 25, along with 150 other student organizations, the UCI College Republicans set up a booth across from the campus’ main administration building as part of Welcome Week. Among other props–a life-size cardboard cutout of President George W. Bush and a “Join Arnold” sign-up sheet–were two boxes of doughnuts. You could look at Bush and join Arnold for free. But the doughnuts? The GOP students offered them for sale, based on the buyer’s race and gender: white and Asian males were […]

Universities shut down affirmative action bake sales

October 1, 2003

Listen In: Greg to Debate Microaggressions at UC Irvine Tomorrow Evening

October 5, 2015

FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff will join a panel discussion tomorrow at the University of California, Irvine, at 7pm PDT (10pm EDT), titled The future of speech and ‘microaggressions’ on college campuses. The panel, hosted by Southern California Public Radio’s AirTalk, features a diverse set of speakers, including college professors and a comedian, debating the question: “What responsibility should the university have in balancing free speech with protecting against offending others?” AirTalk explains the background: The University of California has come under fire this summer for a series of workshops for deans and department heads on so-called microaggressions — […]

University of California Schools Flout Student Speech Rights

November 29, 2011

While some University of California schools are facing scrutiny due to their handling of students’ exercises of free speech and civil disobedience, others in the system have unfinished business protecting students’ free speech rights in their policies. All eight of the UC universities reviewed by FIRE have “red light” or “yellow light” ratings for restricting campus speech, and four of them have flouted UC President Mark Yudof’s 2009 directive to protect free speech in their policies regarding discriminatory harassment. UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Cruz all have been rated by FIRE with a red light for […]

Dershowitz on Free Speech at UC Irvine

February 25, 2011

At The Huffington Post, Alan Dershowitz, renowned civil liberties litigator and member of the Board of Editors for FIRE’s guides to student rights, serves up his take on the right to speak and the right to hear at UC Irvine, in connection with a controversial event covered previously on The Torch.

Criminal Charges for Student Protesters Who Disrupted UC Irvine Event

February 7, 2011

Nearly one year ago today, a few dozen people substantially disrupted a speech by Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, who was speaking at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in the UCI Student Center for a public lecture on “U.S. Israel Relations from a Political and Personal Perspective.” The lecture was sponsored by 10 campus bodies including the Department of Political Science and the School of Law, as well as the Consulate General of Israel and three other off-campus bodies. Last week, according to the Los Angeles Times, 11 of the disruptive protesters were charged with “conspiracy […]

Punishment of Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine Debated in ‘Los Angeles Times’

June 21, 2010

The disciplinary recommendation of a year-long suspension for the Muslim Student Union (MSU) at the University of California, Irvine, is the subject of debate today in the Los Angeles Times. As reported here on The Torch last week, the university suspended the entire group—as opposed to simply pursuing charges against the individual students who participated in a coordinated set of disruptions of a lecture by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren in February. MSU has appealed, and the Times notes that individual disciplinary charges against eleven students—three from UC Riverside in addition to eight from UC Irvine—are also being pursued. MSU’s attorney alleges that […]

UC Irvine’s Muslim Student Union Suspended for Disruption of Oren Lecture

June 14, 2010

A few months ago, Adam wrote about an incident at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), during which Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, was repeatedly disrupted by protesters, including members of UCI’s Muslim Student Union. UCI took a firm stand against the protesters’ tactics, and several students faced disciplinary charges following the event. Following a recently completed investigation, UCI has suspended MSU for an entire year, beginning September 1. Additionally, its members must collectively complete 50 hours of community service. In finding the MSU members guilty of several violations of UCI’s conduct code, the investigation found that, […]

Disruptive Protesters Face Disciplinary Consequences at UC Irvine

February 10, 2010

On Monday, a few dozen people disrupted a speech by Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, who was speaking at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), in the UCI Student Center for a public lecture on “U.S. Israel Relations from a Political and Personal Perspective.” The lecture was sponsored by 10 campus bodies including the Department of Political Science and the School of Law, as well as the Consulate General of Israel and three other off-campus bodies. According to an account distributed by an off-campus, pro-Israel organization named StandWithUs, “it was clear to everyone in the audience that the MSU [the university’s Muslim Student […]

‘Free Speech and Double Standards’

October 3, 2007

Be sure to check out Stuart Taylor’s hard-hitting piece in the National Journal on “Free Speech and Double Standards” in academia. With regards to Columbia’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Taylor points out: It would be easier to stomach the free-speech grandstanding of Lee Bollinger, Columbia’s president and Ahmadinejad’s histrionically hostile host, and others of Bollinger’s ilk if they were a bit less selective in their devotion to the First Amendment. When a student group recently canceled an event featuring an anti-illegal-immigration speaker for fear of a hecklers’ veto by leftist students, for example, Bollinger had nothing to say. Taylor also brings much-needed […]

FIRE on the Radio Today on Academic Freedom Cases in California

September 21, 2007

Today at 12:15 p.m. ET (9:15 a.m. PT), FIRE President Greg Lukianoff will participate in a broadcast panel discussion on academic freedom in the wake of the canceled speech by former Harvard President Larry Summers to the UC Board of Regents and the controversy surrounding Erwin Chemerinsky’s new position as dean of the UC–Irvine law school. The discussion will air on KQED San Francisco, and Torch readers can click here to listen online.

David Bernstein on Summers, Chemerinsky, and Academic Freedom

September 20, 2007

Professor David Bernstein of George Mason University School of Law (and a Volokh Conspiracy blogger) has a great article in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times about the contrast between the University of California’s handling of Erwin Chemerinsky (shameful but ultimately corrected) and Larry Summers (shameful and uncorrected). Adam covered the Summers controversy in some depth in a blog post yesterday and even linked to Bernstein’s article, but I wanted to highlight it here. Bernstein begins: The saga of controversial liberal law professor Erwin Chemerinsky’s on-again, off-again deanship at the new UC Irvine law school was highly unusual in two ways. First, […]

Larry Summers and ‘Academia at Its Worst’

September 19, 2007

It was disappointing to learn that the University of California (UC) withdrew its speaking invitation to former Harvard president Lawrence H. Summers after the invitations had gone out. The main pressure appears to have originated with a petition organized by faculty at UC Davis who argued that Summers “has come to symbolize gender and racial prejudice in academia.” His defenders, as well as some of his earlier critics at Harvard, criticized the decision in their remarks to the Harvard Crimson. “To deny him the opportunity to speak is … academia at its worst,” Harvard professor N. Gregory Mankiw told the […]

Reversal: Chemerinsky Coming Back to UC Irvine

September 17, 2007

Capping off a bizarre few days, the Los Angeles Times is reporting this afternoon that legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky will in fact serve as the dean of the University of California–Irvine’s new law school when it opens in 2009. Chemerinsky had discussed the situation in a Los Angeles Times op-ed just this past Friday, criticizing the school’s decision. FIRE President Greg Lukianoff himself criticized UC Irvine’s decision on Friday, declaring that the school had “lost a candidate who might have been a truly world-class dean, and you did so through an approach that just perpetuates the long, tiresome, hyper-partisan myth […]

Erwin Chemerinsky and the Danger of the Partisan Dance

September 14, 2007

It’s difficult to get through three years of law school and not hear the name of noted constitutional law scholar Erwin Chemerinsky; if you take the bar exam you’ve likely spent a lot of time listening to him teach (Chemerinsky lectures on constitutional law are a mainstay of what is likely the most popular bar preparation course, BAR/BRI), and if you specialize in constitutional law (like many of my favorite people have), avoiding his work is comparable to walking between the raindrops. Simply put, Erwin Chemerinsky is one of the best-known scholars of American constitutional law. That is why it came as […]

The Danger of “Hate Speech”

May 31, 2007

Often, while reviewing a school’s policies or the text of an administrator’s speech, I encounter promises of free speech tempered by the idea of hate speech: “While free speech is an integral part of this institution, hate speech is unacceptable and will be punished.” However, most of what universities call “hate speech” is free speech, as defined by the First Amendment, and trying to make a distinction between the two leads to dangerously subjective tests.   Therefore, it was refreshing to read an article in today’s Los Angeles Times about an event at UC Irvine at which the school’s Chancellor, […]

Respecting Free Speech at UC Irvine

June 8, 2005

UC Irvine’s Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Manuel N. Gomez wrote an opinion piece about freedom of speech that was posted today in the campus newspaper. His article is an excellent example of an administrator who understands the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech, the Supreme Court precedents for what constitutes protected speech, and his own right to voice his opinion about how he personally believes this right should be exercised. His comments stand in stark contrast to UC Irvine’s past attempt to censor constitutionally protected speech. Here’s an excerpt: I want to remind our community that when we talk […]

Fraternities Must Stand Up to Schools’ Squelching Free Speech

October 11, 2004

While there is no shortage of free-speech battles on college campuses, fraternities have the dubious honor of being at the center of many of the least-sympathetic controversies. From Halloween parties where brothers show up dressed as Ku Klux Klan members to fraternity newsletters that graphically relate a brother’s sexual exploits with named co-eds, fraternities sometimes express themselves in ways that are not exactly likely to win the battle for hearts and minds. However, although fraternities later may regret the actions of some of their brothers, they must not allow their rights to be stripped away by overzealous or opportunistic administrators. […]

Practical Advice for Fraternities Caught in the Battle for Free Speech on Campus

September 16, 2004

I. Introduction While there is no shortage of free speech battles on college campuses, fraternities have the dubious honor of being at the center of many of the least sympathetic controversies. From Halloween parties where brothers show up dressed as Ku Klux Klan members to fraternity newsletters that graphically relate a brother’s sexual exploits with named co-eds, fraternities sometimes express themselves in ways that are not exactly likely to win the battle for hearts and minds. However, although fraternities may later regret the actions of some of their brothers, they must not allow their rights to be stripped away by […]

Bake Sale Allowed to Continue

February 26, 2004

Bake sales used to protest affirmative action

December 24, 2003

Watchdog group ponders college suits

December 12, 2003

Discrimination by doughnut at UCI

September 27, 2003

  IRVINE – As the recall election dominates headlines and newscasts, the racial-data measure on the Oct. 7 ballot, Proposition 54, has seen little public debate. That is, except at the University of California, Irvine. On Thursday, students argued and nearly came to blows over a controversial bake sale – stopped only when a UCI administrator stepped in. On Friday, some on campus were still debating whether one group of students was being discriminatory to others and whether some students’ free-speech rights were violated. For the last day of Welcome Week on Thursday, UCI’s chapter of College Republicans set up […]

FIRE Letter to University of Washington Vice President for Student Affairs Ernest R. Morris, January 15, 2003

January 15, 2003