School Spotlight

University of New Mexico

Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Type: Public
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Speech Code Rating

University of New Mexico 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

  • Hate/Bias Incident Reporting

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
    Last updated: June 16, 2020

    What is a Hate/Bias Incident? A hate/bias incident is an act of conduct, speech or expression to which a bias motive is evident as a contributing factor (regardless of whether the act is criminal). A hate crime is an incident that has risen to the level of a crime. All hate crimes are bias incidents but not all bia... Read More

  • Residence Hall Handbook: Bias-Related Incidents and Hate Crimes

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
    Last updated: June 16, 2020

    As a resident, if you are involved in the violation of any of the Community Standards, you will need to participate in the Residence Hall Conduct Process. … Bias is a preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group or persons based on their race, gender, gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orie... Read More

  • Community Living Guide: Civility

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
    Last updated: June 16, 2020

    We define civility as being respectful in all your relationships by respecting the dignity, value and worth of all persons. You may not physically, verbally, mentally, psychologically or sexually abuse any member of our community, or participate in or condone any form of bigotry, harassment, intimidation or threat, ... Read More

  • Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual – Policy 2740: Sexual Misconduct

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
    Last updated: June 16, 2020

    Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment covered by this policy generally falls into one of two categories: quid pro quo and hostile environment. Conduct of a sexual nature becomes a violation of this policy when: … unwanted conduct of a sexual nature is sufficiently serious... Read More

  • Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual – Policy 2500: Acceptable Computer Use

    Speech Code Rating: Yellow
    Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
    Last updated: June 16, 2020

    Users shall not use computing services: … to send chain letters, pyramid schemes, or unauthorized mass mailings; Read More

  • Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual – Policy 2220: Freedom of Expression and Dissent

    Speech Code Rating: Green
    Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
    Last updated: June 16, 2020

    Because of size, safety, logistics, and other considerations, the following types of speech activities must be scheduled in advance: … Planned demonstrations on campus. A planned demonstration is a public manifestation of protest, condemnation, or approval; taking the form of a mass meeting, procession, picket... Read More

  • Residence Hall Handbook: Intimidation

    Speech Code Rating: Green
    Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
    Last updated: June 16, 2020

    Intimidation is to unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack. Read More

  • Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual – Policy 2240: Respectful Campus

    Speech Code Rating: Green
    Speech Code Category: Bullying Policies
    Last updated: June 16, 2020

    The University of New Mexico is committed to freedom of academic inquiry and encourages an environment of free expression and open debate. UNM does not attempt to shield people from ideas they may find unwelcome, disagreeable, or offensive. All members of the campus community are provided with the broadest possible ... Read More

  • Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual – Policy 2220: Freedom of Expression and Dissent

    Speech Code Rating: Green
    Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
    Last updated: June 16, 2020

    As an institution that exists for the express purposes of education, research, and public service, the University is dependent upon the unfettered flow of ideas, not only in the classroom and the laboratory, but also in all University activities. As such, protecting freedom of expression is of central importance to ... Read More

  • Lawsuit: University of New Mexico violated professor’s due process rights

    January 6, 2020

    Nick Flor, the University of New Mexico professor suspended without pay after wrongly being found responsible for sexual harassment, has filed a lawsuit against the university in New Mexico state court for violating his due process rights. I first wrote about Flor’s case last month, after Robby Soave at Reason wrote an exposé of the… Read more

  • A mockery of justice at the University of New Mexico

    December 10, 2019

    I first corresponded with University of New Mexico professor Nick Flor in September, when he sent an email through FIRE’s case submission page.  In his email, Flor detailed how a brief, ill-advised romantic correspondence with a 35-year-old female graduate student (who was not in any of his classes or under his supervision) turned menacing when… Read more

  • VICTORY: University of New Mexico Suspends Speech Code, Waives Speech Tax for Milo Yiannopoulos Speech

    January 26, 2017

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Jan. 26, 2017—Two University of New Mexico (UNM) student groups will no longer have to pay a $3,400 tax on speech to host Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos on campus tomorrow. One day after the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) wrote to UNM about the threat posed to campus free speech by… Read more

  • DOJ’s Misguided Expectations of Campus Administrators

    May 5, 2016

    Since the release of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) April 22 findings letter to the University of New Mexico (UNM), my colleagues have been analyzing many of its problematic aspects. From the overbroad definition of sexual harassment that threatens First Amendment rights on campus to the micromanaging of Title IX compliance, one thing is… Read more

  • UNM Findings Letter: The Growing Micromanagement of Title IX Compliance

    May 3, 2016

    Last week on The Torch, my colleagues examined several alarming aspects of the April 22, 2016 findings letter released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) concluding its investigation of the University of New Mexico’s (UNM’s) handling of sex discrimination complaints by students. Today, we shift focus from the burden that DOJ’s findings will likely… Read more

  • With Feds’ Letter to UNM, AAUP’s Predictions of Title IX Overreach Materialize

    April 28, 2016

    Last month, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) released a draft report titled “The History, Uses and Abuses of Title IX” detailing tensions between the federal government’s interpretation of Title IX and the academic freedom and speech protections that faculty require. The group accused the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of… Read more

  • DOJ Findings Letter to UNM Exacerbates an Already Significant Problem with University Speech Codes

    April 28, 2016

    As has been covered extensively on The Torch by my colleagues, the Department of Justice (DOJ) significantly harmed free speech on college campuses recently with its findings letter to the University of New Mexico (UNM) concluding an investigation into the university’s policies and practices regarding sex discrimination. Unfortunately, DOJ’s letter doesn’t just create a new… Read more

  • DOJ Demands Clarity from UNM While Mandating Confusing Sexual Harassment Policy

    April 27, 2016

    This week on The Torch, FIRE is providing an in-depth look at the letter of findings the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent to the University of New Mexico (UNM) last week at the conclusion of its investigation into the university’s sexual misconduct policies. Among DOJ’s objections to UNM’s policies is the following troubling observation: “At… Read more

  • New DOJ Letter Threatens Campus Speech, Warns Former OCR Attorney

    April 26, 2016

    Free speech on college campuses was dealt a significant blow last week when the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a findings letter against the University of New Mexico (UNM). The letter, reminiscent of the 2013 findings letter and resolution agreement with the University of Montana (proclaimed to be “a blueprint for colleges and universities throughout… Read more

  • Department of Justice: Title IX Requires Violating First Amendment

    April 25, 2016

    WASHINGTON, April 25, 2016—The Department of Justice now interprets Title IX to require colleges and universities to violate the First Amendment. In an April 22 findings letter concluding its investigation into the University of New Mexico’s policies and practices regarding sex discrimination, the Department of Justice (DOJ) found the university improperly defined sexual harassment. DOJ… Read more

  • Student’s First Amendment Suit Against U. of New Mexico Will Proceed

    October 17, 2014

    If there is a safe place to share controversial opinions without punishment, it should be a class at a public institution of higher education that professes to foster discussions by “open minds.” Yet despite the inclusion of these words in the syllabus of the University of New Mexico’s (UNM’s) “Images of (Wo)men: From Icons to… Read more

  • University of New Mexico Apologizes for the Wrong Thing

    October 3, 2014

    The other day, my colleague Samantha Harris wrote about October’s Speech Code of the Month, an overbroad sexual harassment policy at the University of New Mexico (UNM) that the university itself is violating by hosting “Sex Week” this week. As Samantha wrote, the policy prohibits “displaying sexually suggestive or derogatory objects, pictures, cartoons, or posters,”… Read more

  • Speech Code of the Month: University of New Mexico

    October 1, 2014

    FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for October 2014: the University of New Mexico. The University of New Mexico’s (UNM’s) Sexual Harassment Policy (PDF) states that “[e]xamples of sexual harassment which shall not be tolerated” include “suggestive” letters, notes, or invitations. The policy also prohibits “displaying sexually suggestive or derogatory objects, pictures, cartoons,… Read more

  • Four Key Points About Free Speech and the Feds’ ‘Blueprint’

    July 15, 2013

    It’s been more than two months since FIRE and the higher ed community were shocked by a letter issued jointly by the Departments of Education and Justice to the University of Montana. FIRE staff have blogged extensively about the Departments’ “blueprint” for campus sexual harassment in the last 10 weeks, but there are four crucial points that I… Read more

  • FIRE Remembers September 11

    September 11, 2007

    Today, FIRE joins individuals across America and around the world in reflecting upon the tragic events of September 11, 2001. As university students and professors from Maine to California host commemorations today to remember those who suffered and died six years ago, we take a moment to look back at how those events played out… Read more

  • FIRE’s Work Lauded in Newspapers Nationwide

    December 12, 2005

    It’s been a good couple of days for Justice Brandeis’ maxim that “sunlight is the best disinfectant.” Thanks to articles in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, news of FIRE’s efforts to disinfect the swamps of repression currently passing for American universities is reaching an ever-increasing number of… Read more

  • The Chill Is Nothing New

    September 9, 2005

    There is a chill on campus, but that’s nothing new. For decades, campus speech has been chilled by speech codes and other attempts to prevent expression that might offend. Some would like to imagine that the excesses of “political correctness” are ancient history, but repression in the name of tolerance hasn’t gone anywhere. Oppressive speech… Read more

  • Spokane Newspaper Denounces WSU Censorship

    July 19, 2005

    Mere hours after FIRE went public in defense of Washington State University student Chris Lee’s free speech rights, the newspaper most devoted to covering Washington State University wholeheartedly endorsed FIRE’s position in a powerful editorial. The editorial is even sweeter given that the paper in question, the Spokane Spokesman-Review, was responsible for running a fairly… Read more

  • The Eighth Annual Muzzle Awards: Dishonorable mentions

    July 1, 2005

    Dishonorable mentions • One-legged World War II veteran Noel Dube has the dubious distinction of having two of his First Amendment rights violated — freedom of speech and of religion. Dube, 85, had to take the Town of Pepperell to court in order to keep a religious shrine on his property that included a 24-foot… Read more

  • No Jokes, Please: Demonize First, Ask Questions Later

    November 24, 2004

    Have you ever lived in an apartment building? Have you ever been annoyed that some people take the elevator when they are going up or down only one or two flights of stairs? The fact that some people would rather slow down the elevator for everyone else rather than take the stairs drives many people… Read more

  • Victory at University of New Hampshire

    November 12, 2004

    DURHAM, N.H., November 12, 2004—In a victory for free speech and fundamental fairness, University of New Hampshire (UNH) sophomore Timothy Garneau is returning to a UNH dorm today after being evicted for posting fliers joking that freshman women could lose the “Freshman 15” by walking up the dormitory stairs. The Foundation for Individual Rights in… Read more

  • Flyer-Posting Soph Moves Back Into UNH Dorm

    November 5, 2004

      (AgapePress) – The University of New Hampshire student who was kicked out of his residence hall for joking about female freshmen gaining weight has been allowed back in campus housing. The school’s change of heart comes after an education rights group accused the university of violating the student’s First Amendment rights.   Sophomore Tim… Read more

  • My Five Minutes of Infamy

    November 25, 2002

    Prior to 11 September 2001 I was simply a professor of classical history, popular on the campus but essentially unknown beyond the confines of the second-rate university where I have taught for the last thirty years. Then, on that day, while preparing to leave for an eight o’clock Western Civilization class, I watched in amazement… Read more