School Spotlight
University of Mississippi
Speech Code Rating
Policy: Residence Hall/Apartment Bill of Rights
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: September 17, 2020The University has some basic expectations that govern the special nature of interpersonal relationships within the community. These are reasonable expectations that students should have for one another while sharing space in an apartment. The Residence Hall/Apartment Bill of Rights outlines these expectations. &... Read MorePolicy: Free Inquiry, Expression, and Assembly
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: September 17, 2020This policy is intended to promote and facilitate free speech across the University’s community of scholars, without interfering with the University’s educational, research and service missions or infringing upon the rights of others. Nothing in this policy authorizes the University to regulate the content or vie... Read MorePolicy: IT Appropriate Use
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: September 17, 2020You must not upload, post, or transmit content that is threatening, harassing, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy. Read MorePolicy: Harassment
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: September 17, 2020For conduct to violate this policy, the conduct must be more than merely offensive; it must be so objectively offensive, pervasive, and/or severe that if repeated it would effectively deny the victim access to the University’s resources and opportunities, unreasonably interfere with the victim’s work or living en... Read MoreBias Education and Response Team
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: September 17, 2020While freedom of expression and the open exchange of ideas are important to the University of Mississippi, actions and behaviors that are bias-motivated, prejudiced, or otherwise disrespectful can negatively impact individuals or groups. Bias-related incidents are defined as alleged threats or acts of harassment or... Read MoreInterpersonal Violence and Sexual Misconduct Policy
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: September 17, 2020Under this Policy, sexual harassment means either: (i) unwelcome sexual conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to an educational program or activity of the University; or (ii) sexual assault, dating violence, do... Read More
University of Mississippi: Professor’s contract non-renewed following public criticism of school’s record on racial equity
December 18, 2020
In October 2020, professor Garrett Ferber publicly criticized his department chair for rejecting a grant to a community education program focused on racial justice and incarceration, tweeting that the University of Mississippi was motivated by a desire to protect “racist donor money.” Following the tweets, Felber’s department chair requested to have a phone conversation, then… Read more
FIRE objects after Ole Miss dismisses professor who complained about department chair
December 18, 2020
FIRE sent a letter to the University of Mississippi today calling for “a full and transparent account” of why the university decided not to renew the contract of assistant history professor Garrett Felber and asking the institution to reconsider its decision. Felber, a public critic of Ole Miss’ record on racial equity issues, has taught… Read more
Court: Exclusion of evidence, biased training, lack of cross-examination, low evidentiary standard may have violated student’s due process rights
January 17, 2019
While the Department of Education considers new regulations on how colleges and universities adjudicate claims of sexual misconduct on campus, the wave of litigation stemming from how they currently handle those claims continues unabated. Yesterday, a federal court in Mississippi denied the University of Mississippi’s motion to dismiss a student’s claim that the university violated… Read more
At Ole Miss, Free Speech Helps Heal Wounds of Segregationist Past
July 27, 2016
At one time, the University of Mississippi was the setting for one of the most infamous efforts to keep public schools racially segregated. Today, with more than 50 years separating it from that grim past, Ole Miss is gaining notoriety for its sweeping efforts to foster diversity and inclusion on campus. And administrators say it’s… Read more
This Time, We’re Failing to Talk About ‘American Sniper’
April 20, 2015
Every so often, a cultural touchstone descends on college campuses, with the effect of putting campus discourse under the microscope for all to see. The results, frequently, are discouraging. Clint Eastwood’s blockbuster film American Sniper, adapted from deceased Navy sniper Chris Kyle’s memoir, is the latest exhibit. That American Sniper is a controversial movie is… Read more
Harvey Silverglate: ‘Ole Miss Seeks to Put First Amendment in a Noose’
March 3, 2014
FIRE Chairman and co-founder Harvey Silverglate reminds readers in an article for Minding the Campus today that “in the eyes of the First Amendment, speech that promotes hate is as protected as speech that promotes love.”
Ole Miss Students Respond to Racially Charged Speech with More Speech
November 13, 2012
In the wake of a racially charged protest last week, students at the University of Mississippi have responded by demonstrating exactly why the best way to counter speech one finds offensive is with more speech. On election night, some students at Ole Miss gathered to protest the re-election of President Obama. What originally began as… Read more
‘The College Fix’ Covers New “Green Light” Schools
September 28, 2012
This year FIRE was proud to add two new schools to our list of institutions that have “green light” policies for free speech: Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi. We also were happy to add both of those schools to our Seven Best Schools for Free Speech list published in The Huffington Post last month…. Read more
Mississippians Celebrate Free Speech on State Campuses
September 12, 2012
Mississippi news outlets continue to celebrate the state’s good record for freedom of speech on its flagship campuses, with both Ole Miss and Mississippi State listed among the top seven colleges for free speech on campus by FIRE. The Dispatch is the latest to remark upon the Magnolia State’s high ranking for freedom of speech,… Read more
‘Virginia Advocate’ Praises UVA’s Green Light Rating
March 16, 2012
In The Virginia Advocate, an independent student newspaper at the University of Virginia, Wendy Morrison writes a brief column noting with pleasure the university’s rank as a "green light" school after having seen FIRE’s latest national survey of campus speech codes, "This ranking was no faint praise," Morrison writes, "when you compare UVA to other… Read more
In Mississippi, ‘The Clarion-Ledger’ Reports on Dangers of State Colleges’ Speech Codes
August 16, 2010
In today’s edition of The Clarion-Ledger, the Jackson, Mississippi newspaper reports on speech codes maintained at public colleges statewide. Spurred by FIRE’s recent victory at nearby Hinds Community College, reporter Elizabeth Crisp writes: Students at Mississippi universities may have to watch what they say more than those in other states because of policies that free-speech… Read more
The Acton Institute on FIRE, Speech Codes, and Reading Solzhenitsyn at Ole Miss
December 3, 2008
Ray Nothstine, Associate Editor at the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Acton Institute, has authored a thoughtful and illuminating article on the prevalence of speech codes and their chilling effects on campus freedom, as well as FIRE’s efforts to expose them and rid them from America’s colleges and universities. Echoing FIRE co-founders Alan Charles Kors and Harvey… Read more
‘Speech Code of the Month’ in ‘The FIRE Quarterly’
May 25, 2007
As Torch readers know, each month, FIRE features a college or university with a particularly egregious speech code as its Speech Code of the Month. We use Speech Code of the Month to educate the public about the ever-present problem of speech codes on campus, but the feature also helps put public pressure on these… Read more
New Speech Code of the Month Website Feature
April 13, 2007
FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month program has been an important vehicle for change. Since June 2005, five universities—Albertson College of Idaho, the University of Nevada at Reno, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Jacksonville State University, and the University of Mississippi—have changed their policies after being named Speech Code of the Month. In addition, the… Read more
Speech Code of the Month: University of Mississippi
October 3, 2006
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for October 2006: University of Mississippi. The University of Mississippi’s General Telephone Policy provides that, on calls made to and from campus telephones, “offensive language is not to be used. All reported incidents of anyone using offensive language is referred to the Campus Police for further action.”… Read more
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