University of Miami
Location: Miami, Florida
Website: http://www.miami.edu
Type: Private
Federal Circuit: 11th Circuit
Speech Code Rating
University of Miami has been given the speech code rating Red. A red light university has at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech. Read more here.
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University of Miami: Refusal to Approve Conservative Student Group
April 7, 2003
The University of Miami (UM) refused to approve, on four separate occasions, a student organization created for "the exposition and promotion of conservative principles and ideas." The proposed student group, Advocates for Conservative Thought (ACT), tried consistently to gain official recognition through the Committee on Student Organizations (COSO), UM’s authorized agent for handling such matters. However, COSO denied the group recognition—which, under UM policy, it needed in order to use vital university facilities and resources, to be listed on the website for approved student groups and in the student handbook, and to promote itself on campus—on the grounds that the […]
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Red Light Policies
Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook: Code of Conduct- Harassment or Harm to Others
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: November 9, 2017Unwelcomed and/or discriminatory words or acts, whether intentional or a product of the disregard for the safety, rights, or welfare of others, which intimidate, degrade, demean, threaten, bully, haze or otherwise interfere with another person’s daily activity are prohibited.
Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook: Code of Conduct- Online/Internet Social Networking Usage
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: November 9, 2017Prohibited usage of internet/networking sites may include: … Creating language on a social network that is hateful, threatening, vulgar, or derogatory …
Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook: Demonstration (On Campus)
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: November 9, 20171. Recognized University organizations and full or part-time students who wish to schedule a demonstration, rally, or equivalent activity, may request the space through the Dean of Students Office. Any such request must be made no less than two business days in advance of the activity.
2. Demonstrations may be held at locations on campus with the approval of the Dean of Students Office on a first-come, first-served basis after an assessment that such demonstrations will not otherwise interfere with scheduled University use or fail to comply with the guidelines applicable to all demonstrations.
Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook: Code of Conduct- Disorderly Conduct
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: November 9, 2017Lewd, indecent or obscene conduct or expression made by any means is prohibited.
Student Rights and Responsibilities: Code of Conduct- Sexual Harassment
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: November 9, 2017Sexual Harassment is defined for University purposes as physical or verbal abuse of a sexual nature, including graphic commentaries about an individual’s body, sexually degrading remarks used to describe an individual, or unwelcome propositions or physical advances of a sexual nature.
Student Organization Handbook: Outside Speaker Policy
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: November 9, 2017Outside speakers speaking on religion, politics, or any other topic that may be perceived as controversial must fill out the Outside Speakers Form and return it to the Department of Student Activities & Student Organizations. An electronic copy of the form can be found here. The Department of Student Activities & Student Organizations – in consultation with the University of Miami Police Department – may require that additional security be present to ensure the safety of the speaker and program participants. The costs of security are the responsibility of the sponsoring organization.
Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook: Demonstration (On Campus)
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: November 9, 2017[T]he University will assure the right of students and approved student organizations to demonstrate and publicly proclaim any view, however unpopular.
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Schools, Media Ignore Civil Protections When it Comes to Campus Sexual Assault
August 30, 2016
By Ashe Schow at Washington Examiner The Washington Post has an article up about the “toxic environment” for men accused of campus sexual assault at colleges across the country. It’s an informative read, and I urge you to take a look. However, the author leaves out something important… Read more here.
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Congress Hears from Miami Professor, FIRE over Freedom of Speech on College Campuses
May 11, 2016
By Sean Fowler at Florida Record WASHINGTON – University of Miami law professor Frances Hill recently testified before the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee hearing on colleges stifling free speech over fears of losing tax-exempt status, an issue that’s become a serious concern on and off campuses nationwide… Read more here.
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Congressional Dems Dismiss Concerns About Censorship on Campus
March 7, 2016
By Peter Fricke at Campus Reform At a congressional hearing last week, Rep. Peter Roskam condemned the “out of control” politically correct culture used to justify censorship at tax-exempt colleges and universities. Read more here.
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House Republican Concerned About Colleges Stifling Students’ Speech
March 2, 2016
By Naomi Jagoda at The Hill The chairman of the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee expressed concern Wednesday that colleges are stifling students’ political speech because they are incorrectly worried that such speech could jeopardize the schools’ tax-exempt statuses. Read more here.
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U. Miami Law Prof: Affirmative Consent Shifts Burden of Proof to Accused
September 13, 2015
By Aleister at College Insurrection Prove that you’re not guilty is hardly a fair starting point. Samantha Harris reports at the FIRE blog. University of Miami Law Prof: Affirmative Consent Effectively Shifts Burden of Proof to Accused University of Miami (Florida) law professor Tamara Rice Lave has joined the growing number of people—including FIRE—arguing that “affirmative consent” policies unfairly shift the burden of proof to students accused of sexual misconduct to prove themselves innocent. In a pair of posts on the legal blog PrawfsBlawg, Professor Lave discusses her concerns with affirmative consent policies and argues that even the best-written affirmative […]
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Report: Clinton Foundation Leader Blocked Conservative Group at U. of Miami
March 30, 2015
By Bethany Bowra at Campus Reform Donna Shalala, former Department of Health and Human Services secretary and outgoing President of the University of Miami, tried more than once to deny young female students a chance to organize a conservative club on campus. Shalala’s past attempts to silence conservative activists is resurfacing amidst her new appointment to head-up the Clinton Foundation, According to reports, the incident occurred during the 2002-03 academic year, during which Colleen Donovan, Andrea Kiser, Nathalia Gillot, and Sarah Canale founded a group called Advocates for Conservative Thought. In order to use university resources and facilities, the club […]
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Speech on Campus After 9/11: Less Free than It Used to Be?
May 25, 2006
Universities have traditionally been places where debate and the free exchange of ideas have been welcomed. But after 9/11, that may be changing — as some recent, troubling incidents suggest. In this column, I’ll survey some recent incidents suggesting free speech on campus is in peril, and discuss the extent to which the First Amendment protects student and faculty speech Cracking Down on Student Demonstrators and Controversial Student Speech Recently, students at the University of Miami (a private school, but one with a stated policy of fostering free speech) demonstrated alongside striking maintenance workers to show solidarity. Now, they face […]
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Philly group takes national lead in fighting campus censorship
August 21, 2005
An organization inspired by a campus fight over whether “water buffalo” was a racist slur has become the go-to group for college students and professors of all stripes who believe their rights to free speech have been violated.Since its founding in 1999, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has battled pro bono for evangelicals and atheists, animal rights activists and campus conservatives, and others who say they have been silenced by school administrators because of their points of view. With 11 employees in Philadelphia and a network of dozens of volunteer attorneys nationwide, the organization has grown from an […]
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No Myth: Conservatives in Academia Suffer Discrimination
October 15, 2004
In a recent Sun column, (“Reclaim Your Victimhood,” Sept. 24), Danny Pearlstein, skeptical of the notion that conservatives in academia suffer discrimination, challenged conservatives “to send me concrete instances” of such. As the French would say, “chiche!” — dare accepted. Pearlstein’s challenge was, at least from his perspective, ill-timed. For within 48 hours came a glaring example of anti-conservative discrimination at Cornell, courtesy of the Student Assembly(SA): The SA’s blatantly political attempt to defund The Cornell American, one of the very few conservative student groups on campus. The attempted defunding was done in reliance on a newly-adopted, ex post facto […]
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University of Miami Law Prof: Affirmative Consent Effectively Shifts Burden of Proof to Accused
September 11, 2015
University of Miami (Florida) law professor Tamara Rice Lave has joined the growing number of people—including FIRE—arguing that “affirmative consent” policies unfairly shift the burden of proof to students accused of sexual misconduct to prove themselves innocent. In a pair of posts on the legal blog PrawfsBlawg, Professor Lave discusses her concerns with affirmative consent policies and argues that even the best-written affirmative consent policy will prove unfair in the university setting, “with its fewer procedural protections for the accused. In her first post last week, Professor Lave wrote that although affirmative consent certainly reflects a positive model for communication […]
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Speech Code of the Month: University of Miami
May 1, 2006
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for May 2006: University of Miami. The University of Miami’s “Harassment or Harm to Others” policy, found on page 64 of the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, prohibits: Any words or acts, whether intentional or a product of the disregard for the safety, rights, or welfare of others, which cause or result in physical or emotional harm to others, or which intimidate, degrade, demean, threaten, haze or otherwise interfere with another person’s rightful actions or comfort is prohibited. This policy appears to prohibit almost anything that hurts anyone’s feelings, including any words […]
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This Month in FIRE History: Victory at U Miami
May 4, 2005
Two years ago this month, FIRE secured a victory in a case involving a student group Advocates for Conservative Thought (ACT). The student government had refused to recognize ACT, essentially arguing “we already have a conservative group on campus and we don’t need more.” U Miami was sort of trendsetter by making this argument and we have seen similar arguments crop up at other schools across the nation. Last summer Catholic University in D.C. also argued that it did not need a student chapter of the NAACP since it already had two minority student groups on campus (thereby ignoring the […]
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Policies are rated on their inclusion of 10 due process safeguards. Each policy may receive 2 points for fully including that safeguard, 1 point for partial inclusion, and 0 points for no meaningful inclusion. Most, but not all, institutions have separate policies for sexual misconduct and all other misconduct. See FIRE’s Spotlight on Due Process report for more information.