School Spotlight
University of Wisconsin – La Crosse
Speech Code Rating
This school has adopted the chicago statement for free speech. 
Policy Against Discrimination, Discriminatory Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, and Retaliation
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: June 11, 2019Sexual Harassment (RPD 14-2) is one form of discriminatory harassment. Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other physical conduct and expressive behavior of a sexual nature where: … (c) such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an... Read MoreResidence Life Policies and Procedures: Posters, signs and materials
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: June 11, 2019Residence Life Staff have both the right and the responsibility to regulate the “public” side of room windows and room doors. The window and door are a community area shared by everyone who uses the sidewalk or lives within the residence hall buildings and not solely by the students of the room. Therefore, students ... Read MoreChapter UWS 18: Conduct on University Lands
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: June 11, 2019No person may, with intent to harass, annoy or offend another person, send a message to the person on an electronic mail or other computerized communication system and in that message use any obscene, lewd or profane language or suggest any lewd or lascivious act. Read MoreHate/Bias Incident Report Form
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: June 11, 2019What is a hate/bias incident? A hate/bias incident is any physically or verbally harmful act that is motivated by (or appears to be motivated by, in whole or in part) any of the following factors: race/ethnicity, religion, national origin/immigration/citizenship status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or ex... Read MoreResidence Life Policies and Procedures: Disorderly Behavior
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: June 11, 2019The following activities are not permitted: a) Engaging in disorderly conduct Engaging in harmful, indecent, or otherwise disorderly communication. … Read MoreUWL Hate Response Team
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: June 11, 2019UWL views hate/bias incidents and all manifestations of prejudice and intolerance as contradictory to our mission as a university and a community, and as a threat to each individual’s right to a safe living, learning and working environment. Because of this, the Hate Response Team was formed in 2005 to provide... Read MoreAcceptable Use of Information Technology Resources
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: June 11, 2019Authorized users must not engage in unacceptable use of UW System IT resources, which includes but is not limited to the following: … Harassment of, threats to or defamation of others; creation of a hostile environment; stalking; and/or illegal discrimination … Read MorePolicy Against Discrimination, Discriminatory Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, and Retaliation
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: June 11, 2019Discriminatory Harassment (RPD 14-6) is a form of discrimination consisting of unwelcome verbal, written, graphic or physical conduct that: (a) Is directed at an individual or group of individuals on the basis of the individual or group of individuals’ actual or perceived protected status, or affiliation or associat... Read More
University of Wisconsin: Students’ Due Process Rights
March 13, 2009
FIRE successfully persuaded the University of Wisconsin’s Board of Regents to affirm due process rights for students, including the option of a hearing before a committee including student peers, attorney representation in the case of serious allegations, and both e-mail and paper notification of proceedings. The Board had proposed changes to the State Administrative Code… Read more
University of Wisconsin at La Crosse: Censorship of Student Magazine
April 13, 2006
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s (UW-L) Student Senate reversed its decision to limit the printing of a student magazine that the Senate deemed offensive. The magazine, titled The Second Supper Alternative News, wrote an article in its February 2006 issue titled “Cheney Kills Five Crips in Inner-City Hunting Accident.” The Senate passed a resolution stating that… Read more
So to Speak podcast: Campus free speech roundup
January 24, 2019
On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we are joined by four members of FIRE’s staff to discuss the latest campus free speech news, including two new FIRE initiatives to tackle art censorship and restrictions on free speech and academic freedom abroad. Participants in this show are: Nico Perrino, host of… Read more
Wisconsin system president reprimands UW La Crosse Chancellor for Free Speech Week talk by porn star
November 30, 2018
Earlier this month, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse hosted a speech by nurse, sex educator, and adult film star Nina Hartley as part of UW-La Crosse’s Free Speech Week. Now the university finds itself embroiled in controversy over the invitation: Its chancellor is facing a formal reprimand from the president of the UW System, who… Read more
Speech Code of the Month: University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
February 11, 2016
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for February 2016: the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (UW-La Crosse). Like many universities, UW-La Crosse maintains a protocol for students to report “bias incidents” to the administration. While bias incident policies have been around for years, they are becoming yet more common according to a recent article… Read more
Is UW-La Crosse Prof Being Railroaded over ‘Partisan’ Speech?
October 8, 2013
A concerning report out of Wisconsin suggests that administrators at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (UW-L) have inappropriately pressured a professor there to apologize for sending her class an email critical of the government shutdown and to refrain from using “politically partisan language” in the future. According to The Daily Caller, UW-L geography professor Rachel… Read more
University of Wisconsin Sued for Derecognizing Religious Organization
October 6, 2006
In non-Columbia-related news, the Alliance Defense Fund has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, which was derecognized by the University of Wisconsin for allowing only Christians to serve as leaders of the group. This case closely resembles another case recently decided by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, whose jurisdiction… Read more
Victory for Student Press Freedom at University of Wisconsin–La Crosse
April 20, 2006
LA CROSSE, Wis., April 20, 2006—The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (UW-L) has reversed its decision to censor a satirical student magazine. UW-L’s student government had attempted to limit the printing of the magazine to just a few dozen copies in response to articles some deemed offensive. The magazine’s rights were restored less than a week… Read more
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