School Spotlight
University of Memphis
Location:
Memphis, Tennessee
Type:
Public
Speech Code Rating
University of Memphis 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.
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BF4022: Access to and Use of Campus Property and Facilities: Posting of Signs/Banners
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: October 12, 20212. Posting of Signs/Banners The placement of signs, banners, posters, and other materials on campus is limited to University departments and activities, registered campus organizations and others as approved pursuant to these guidelines. The University retains the right to control and approve the time, manne... Read MoreGE2030: Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: October 12, 2021Harassment is conduct that is based on a person’s race, color, religion, creed, ethic or national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, age (as applicable), status as a covered veteran, genetic information, or any other category protected by federal or state civil rights law that: ... Read MoreGE2039: Interim Sexual Harassment & Sexual/Gender-Based Misconduct Policy- Sexual/Gender-Based Misconduct
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: October 12, 2021Sexual/Gender-Based Misconduct: Any conduct on the basis of sex or gender that satisfies one or more of the following: … Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be severe, pervasive, or objectively offensive that it denies a person equal access to the University’s educational programs or activit... Read MoreBF4022: Access to and Use of Campus Property and Facilities: Access to Facilities & Prioritized Users
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Other Speech Codes
Last updated: October 12, 20214. Access/Use of campus property or facilities, other than for those scheduled for official University, administrative and/or normal educational purposes, shall be through a process of application, review, and administrative approval as established by University consistent with this policy. 5. Application fo... Read MoreCode of Student Rights and Responsibilities: Disorderly Conduct
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: October 12, 2021(c) Disorderly Conduct. Any individual or group behavior which is abusive, obscene, lewd, indecent, violent, excessively noisy, disorderly, or which unreasonably disturbs institutional functions, operations, classrooms, other groups or individuals (e.g. public urination/defecation, participation in a disruptive o... Read MoreCode of Student Rights and Responsibilities: Abuse of Computer Resources and Facilities
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: October 12, 2021Abuse of Computer Resources and Facilities. Misusing and/or abusing campus computer resources including, but not limited to the following: … Use of computing resources and facilities to send abusive or obscene correspondence; … Read MoreTennessee Board of Regents: Policy 3:01:01:00 Student Organizations
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Other Speech Codes
Last updated: October 12, 2021No student organization may carry on any activity on the campus of an institution unless the organization has been officially registered by the institution. Read MoreBF4022: Access to and Use of Campus Property and Facilities: Bulletin Boards/Posting
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: October 12, 2021Bulletin Boards/Posting a. University may establish bulletin boards or approved areas for posting for specific uses and/or entities, b. University may identify individual boards/areas and specify or limit the authorized uses and/or entities for such boards/areas as well as the types of materials whic... Read MoreHousing and Residence Life: Housing Policies
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: October 12, 2021Physical abuse, verbal abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, coercion, and/or other conduct that threatens or endangers the health or safety of any person is prohibited. Further, residents should not act in ways that create or maintain an unwelcoming, hostile, or intimidating environment with the intent to disco... Read MoreGE2039: Interim Sexual Harassment & Sexual/Gender-Based Misconduct Policy- Sexual Harassment
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: October 12, 2021For purposes of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, sexual harassment is any conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following: … Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal a... Read MoreTennessee Board of Regents – Policy 3:02:04:00 Student Rights and Freedoms
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: October 12, 2021A. Academic institutions exist for the transmission of knowledge, the pursuit of truth, the development of students, and the general well-being of society. Free inquiry and free expression are indispensable to the attainment of these goals. As members of the academic community, students should be encouraged to d... Read MoreCode of Student Rights and Responsibilities: Harassment
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: October 12, 2021(ee) Harassment. Conduct directed toward another member of the University community that includes, but is not limited to, repeated or continuing unconsented contact that would cause a reasonable person to suffer emotional distress. Harassment does not include constitutionally protected activity or conduct that se... Read More
FIRE surveyed roughly 44,000 students at 203 colleges and universities about the climate for free speech at their institutions. See the full report on FIRE’s 2022 College Free Speech Rankings for more information.
Overall / out of a top score of 100 |
|
| Overall Score | 66.5 |
Rankings / out of 203 colleges ranked |
|
| Overall Ranking | 11 |
| Openness | 149 |
| Tolerance (Liberals) | 194 |
| Tolerance (Conservatives) | 52 |
| Administrative Support | 59 |
| Comfort | 1 |
| Disruptive Conduct | 4 |
Administrative Behavior |
|
| Supported Scholars | 0 |
| Sanctioned Scholars | 0 |
| Successful Disinvitations | 0 |
Climate |
|
| Speech Climate | ABOVE AVERAGE |
| Speech Code | YELLOW |
University of Memphis: Student Newspaper Budget Cut Over Content
August 31, 2012
In May 2012, the University of Memphis’ Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee (SAFAC) reduced funding for the student newspaper The Daily Helmsman by $25,000, a one-third decrease from the campus publication’s previous funding levels. After concerns were raised about the cuts, SAFAC chair and Dean of Students Stephen H. Petersen questioned “whether the paper is really serving… Read more
University of Memphis Professor Confuses Vandalism with Free Speech
February 18, 2014
Today the University of Memphis’ student newspaper The Daily Helmsman has an article about an art professor who feels he is being penalized for his criticism of the university. According to the Helmsman: An art professor who has been an outspoken critic of the University of Memphis’ administration said he was threatened with criminal prosecution… Read more
University of Memphis Slashes Student Newspaper’s Funding [VIDEO]
January 23, 2014
On most college campuses, the student newspaper is entrusted with reporting on issues important to the campus community and with holding powerful campus authorities accountable. But after the student newspaper at the University of Memphis found its budget slashed by $25,000 because the student government and university administration didn’t like the paper’s critical, investigative reporting on their… Read more
Liberty Requires Tough Choices: The Student Funding Dilemma
July 31, 2013
Kanisha Parthasarathy is a FIRE summer intern. Allocating money to student groups is a tricky game. For many colleges, the amount of money given to groups is not increasing at the same rate as the number of student groups vying for recognition and funding. Funding boards usually solve this problem by creating guidelines to determine how… Read more
Report Details First Amendment Violations Against ‘Helmsman’ and Promises Future Changes
September 18, 2012
We’ve kept Torch readers updated on the free speech case involving the University of Memphis (UM) student newspaper The Daily Helmsman, which had $25,000 cut from its funding through a process that strongly suggested the involvement of viewpoint discrimination by the student government body responsible for distributing funding from student activity fees. Fortunately, the sum… Read more
Funding for ‘The Daily Helmsman’ Restored
September 4, 2012
As Torch readers may have already noted, FIRE is pleased to report a successful resolution to the funding dispute for The Daily Helmsman at the University of Memphis (UM). FIRE has been following this case closely since it first began in May, when UM’s Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee (SAFAC) cut the Helmsman’s funding by… Read more
‘Memphis Flyer’ Chronicles ‘Helmsman’s’ First Amendment Battles
August 17, 2012
Recently the Student Press Law Center publicized the struggles of The Daily Helmsman, the University of Memphis (UM) student newspaper which has had numerous wrangles with the university administration, many involving disputes over the release of public records (including for a rape committed on the UM campus). Most recently The Daily Helmsman saw its funding… Read more
University of Memphis Student Fee Board Only Funds Speech it Likes
August 1, 2012
The Student Press Law Center is reporting on a ridiculous situation at the University of Memphis. Memphis’s student-run Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee (SAFAC) has voted to reduce the funding for the student newspaper The Daily Helmsman by $25,000, or one-third of its previous funding. Here’s the kicker: Helmsman editors said they have been told… Read more