School Spotlight

University of Louisville

Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Type: Public
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Speech Code Rating

University of Louisville has been given the speech code rating Yellow. Yellow light colleges and universities are those institutions with at least one ambiguous policy that too easily encourages administrative abuse and arbitrary application. Read more

  • Policy PER 1.10: Discriminatory Harassment

    Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
    Last updated: May 17, 2018

    The following are examples of behavior that should be reported for review under this policy: * Frequent taunting on the basis of an individual’s association with people of a particular national origin or race; * The oral use of offensive epithets, slurs, or comments aimed at a particular person or group, or th... Read More

  • Bias Incident Response Team/Defining Hate Crimes and Bias Incidents

    Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
    Last updated: May 17, 2018

    While valuing freedom of thought and expression, and multiple points of view, we recognize that some members of our campus community are affected by instances of bias and hate and need assistance. The Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT) is a group of faculty and staff who are committed to creating a proactive respons... Read More

  • Code of Student Conduct: Rationale

    Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
    Last updated: May 17, 2018

    The University of Louisville is a community dedicated to the principles of free expression in which diverse views are encouraged and embraced. Opinions that may be unpopular and/or contrary to the University’s values and objectives, but do not otherwise violate policy, will not be sanctioned. Read More

  • Student Rights and Responsibilities

    Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
    Last updated: May 17, 2018

    Students have the right of freedom of expression to the extent allowed by law. Read More

  • Residence Hall Policies: Sign Posting Policy

    Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
    Last updated: March 25, 2019

    Posters and flyers to be distributed within the residence halls must be approved by Campus Housing prior to distribution and/or posting in residence hall areas, subject to objective, content- and viewpoint-neutral criteria. The guidelines and prior approval process pertain to bulletin boards and other University-con... Read More

  • Code of Student Conduct

    Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
    Last updated: May 17, 2018

    Any student found to have committed or to have attempted to commit the following prohibited conduct is subject to the conduct sanctions outlined in Section 12: … Harassment. Engaging in conduct that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive, and that so undermines and detracts from the person(s) educa... Read More
At present, FIRE has not been involved in any cases at this school.

  • University of Louisville’s Nursing School ‘Tentacles’ Case Ends Quietly

    June 10, 2013

    In an anticlimactic finish to a case in which a nursing student was expelled for posting an unflattering description of a birth on her Myspace page, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held in an unpublished opinion that the University of Louisville’s Nursing School did not violate student Nina Yoder’s First Amendment… Read more

  • Did Somebody Say ‘Gazongas’? You’re Busted!

    August 22, 2012

    There’s a movement afoot in state legislatures to ban employers and universities from demanding control of or monitoring the social media accounts of their students or employees. One such bill specifically aimed at students unanimously passed the California Senate yesterday. Advocates of these laws justifiably worry that, when students are required to provide their usernames… Read more

  • University of Louisville Nursing Student’s Case Dismissed

    April 5, 2012

    Torch readers may recall the case of Nina Yoder, a nursing student at the University of Louisville who was expelled in 2009. As a nursing student, Yoder had witnessed a live birth and posted a detailed description of the event on social networking website MySpace.com. Yoder was quickly expelled for violating the school’s Honor Code… Read more

  • Sixth Circuit Orders Federal District Court to Rule on Student Blogger’s Free Speech and Due Process Claims

    April 14, 2011

    On Monday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a 2009 federal district court decision (full opinion here) in which a student claimed that the University of Louisville wrongfully dismissed her based on the contents of her personal blog. The district court had refused to rule on the student’s free speech… Read more

  • University of Louisville Responds Admirably to FIRE Concerns about New Policies

    January 25, 2010

    Back in June, as Will wrote, the University of Louisville was inviting comment about proposed changes to the school’s Code of Conduct, including a new Values Statement. FIRE was invited to review the drafts of the new policies by a faculty member concerned about possible violations of individual rights. We communicated a few comments and… Read more

  • At Louisville, Proposed Policy Changes are Problematic

    June 12, 2009

    The University of Louisville is inviting comment from the university community about proposed changes to the school’s code of conduct, including a new Values Statement and a new faculty, staff, and administrator Code of Conduct. FIRE was invited to review the drafts of the new policies by a faculty member concerned about possible violations of… Read more

  • Rights in the News: At Maryland, Virginia Tech, UMass and Elsewhere, FIRE Cases Grabbing Headlines

    April 10, 2009

    Another week, another crush of FIRE cases from around the country battling for headlines. I’ll start with Greg’s Huffington Post blog on the controversy swirling around the University of Maryland campus in the wake of a legislator’s threat to pull funding from the university if it allowed students to screen an adult film on campus—which,… Read more

  • Rights in the News: FIRE Enters the Fray Over Dawkins Investigation in Oklahoma

    March 20, 2009

    In his column posted last weekend on RichardDawkins.net, Greg helped bring attention to what is potentially a deeply troubling breach of free expression: the rumored investigation of the University of Oklahoma’s funding of a speech by evolutionary biologist and bestselling author Richard Dawkins by the state’s legislature. As Claire noted on Monday, Greg’s post has… Read more

  • Rights in the News: FIRE Issues Get the Lou Dobbs Treatment

    March 13, 2009

    As Will wrote earlier in the week, FIRE has seen far too many instances of students’ First Amendment rights being thrown out the window when used to support Second Amendment rights. FIRE has been all over the news concerning the most recent instance of this, in which a student at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU)… Read more

  • Speech Code of the Month: University of Louisville

    May 2, 2008

    We at FIRE pride ourselves on our attention to detail and our steadfast commitment to getting the facts right. So when we make a mistake—which is very rare, happily—we think it’s important to address our error as quickly and transparently as possible. That’s why I must slightly correct the record regarding the University of Louisville’s… Read more