School Spotlight
University of Louisville
Speech Code Rating
Bias Incident Response Team/Defining Hate Crimes and Bias Incidents
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: January 6, 2021While 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 MoreCode of Student Conduct: Rationale
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: January 6, 2021The 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 MoreResidence Hall Policies: Sign Posting Policy
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: January 6, 2021Posters 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 MoreCode of Student Conduct
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: January 6, 2021Any 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: … ii. Harassment. Engaging in conduct that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive, and that so undermines and detracts from the person(s) e... Read MoreCode of Student Conduct
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: January 6, 2021Any 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: … v. Sexual Harassment. Conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following: … Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable p... Read More
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