School Spotlight
University of Wisconsin System
Speech Code Rating
This school has adopted the chicago statement for free speech.
- At present, FIRE does not maintain information on this school's policies.
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
By delaying free speech survey in response to criticism, University of Wisconsin System errs
April 15, 2022
Just days before the launch of a survey on the campus climate for free speech, the University of Wisconsin System caved to public pressure baselessly alleging the survey would lead to illiberal legislation, and delayed the initiative until the fall semester. The response to the survey, which included the resignation of the interim chancellor of… Read more
New Wisconsin Regents policy has problems and promise
October 10, 2017
On Oct. 6, the University of Wisconsin System’s Board of Regents adopted a policy intended to promote free speech on campus. The policy explains the System’s commitment to the robust free exchange of ideas and seeks to curb attempts by some to stifle the expression of others. We are happy to see the Regents take… Read more
UW-Madison Demonstrates What a ‘Green Light’ Definition of a Bias Incident Looks Like
October 6, 2016
Over the past several months, there has been a great deal of media coverage about campus bias-reporting protocols and the threats they present to students’ and faculty members’ freedom of expression. Of course, FIRE has been warning about the problems with these policies for years, and our case archives back up our ongoing concerns regarding… Read more
Wisconsin Legislator’s Threat to Slash UW Budget Over Reading Assignment ‘Cuts to the Core of Academic Freedom’
July 8, 2016
A Wisconsin legislator’s threat yesterday to cut the University of Wisconsin System’s budget over an “obscene” course reading assignment is the latest salvo in what is becoming a years-long war between the university and state lawmakers over academic freedom. State Senator Stephen Nass made the remarks in an email he sent Thursday to email lists… Read more
A Lifetime in ‘The Truth Business’: FIRE Honors the Exceptional Career of Wisconsin Professor Donald Downs
May 6, 2016
Editor’s Note: University of Wisconsin Professor Emeritus Donald Downs is a longtime friend of FIRE. Coincidentally, I worked for him as a teaching assistant when I attended the University of Wisconsin Law School. I was recently invited back to campus on FIRE’s behalf to report on a conference in Downs’ honor. In the frame, in… Read more
Wisconsin: Why Tenure and Shared Governance Matter
June 10, 2015
Tensions are running high in Wisconsin’s system of higher education, as the state’s legislature recently moved closer to etching into reality proposals that could result in $250 million in cuts to the University of Wisconsin System’s budget. This alone is dramatic, but in addition to the potential cuts to the system’s budget, proposals are also… Read more
U. of Wisconsin Regents Revise Systemwide Speech Code
November 18, 2013
There is very good news for free speech at Wisconsin’s public universities: The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents has revised a system-wide discriminatory harassment policy that previously contained language declared unconstitutional by a federal court. In April of this year, FIRE and two groups of University of Wisconsin (UW) faculty wrote to the Board of Regents urging them… Read more
Wisconsin Governor Set to Sign Budget Sunday; No Word on Veto of Unconstitutional Provision
June 27, 2013
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has announced that he plans to sign the state’s budget on Sunday, but has not indicated whether he plans to veto an unconstitutional provision forbidding University of Wisconsin (UW) faculty from collaborating with the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (WCIJ). Students, faculty, journalists, and nonprofit organizations including FIRE have criticized the… Read more
FIRE, Wisconsin Faculty Ask for Speech Code Reform in UW System
April 24, 2013
Today, FIRE sent a letter to the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System urging reform of a policy that contains language explicitly declared unconstitutional by a federal court. Two groups of UW faculty, led by UW-Madison professor Donald Downs and UW-Stout professor Timothy Shiell, sent their own letters under separate cover echoing… Read more
‘Firefly’ and Anti-Fascism Posters Get Professor Threatened with Criminal Charges on University of Wisconsin Campus
September 26, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 26, 2011—A professor has been censored twice, reported to the “threat assessment team,” and threatened with criminal charges because of satirical postings on his office door. Campus police at the University of Wisconsin–Stout (UWS) censored theater professor James Miller’s poster depicting a quotation from actor Nathan Fillion’s character in the television series Firefly, and the police… Read more
Speech Code of the Month: University of Wisconsin System
June 4, 2010
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for June 2010: The University of Wisconsin (UW) Board of Regents Policy 14-6, the “Racist and Other Discriminatory Conduct Policy.” It is shocking that the UW Board of Regents and many of its member universities still have policies containing language that was ruled unconstitutional by a federal… Read more
New Due Process Rules Finally Hit University of Wisconsin
September 10, 2009
As of September 1, revisions to UWS 17, which governs the on- and off-campus behavior of students in the University of Wisconsin System (UWS), have taken effect. As Torch readers may remember, FIRE played an active role in the revision process, particularly when it became known that proposed revisions to the conduct code severely limited… Read more