Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech Threatens Student Newspaper’s Future over Protected Anonymous Comments on Its Own Website

February 11, 2010

In February 2010, Virginia Tech’s Commission on Student Affairs (CSA) threatened the future of its independent student newspaper, the Collegiate Times, because the newspaper allowed “irresponsible and inappropriate” comments to be posted anonymously on its website. The Commission on Student Affairs posited that allowing anonymous comments “counter[s] the Principles of Community,” and threatened to violate Virginia Tech’s contract by unilaterally ending financial support of the Collegiate Times, as well as threatening to disallow student organization funding for advertisements in the newspaper. After FIRE, the Student Press Law Center, and the ACLU of Virginia criticized these threats–and the Educational Media Company […]

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: “Diversity” Requirement for Faculty Assessment Violates Academic Freedom and Freedom of Conscience

March 25, 2009

Since Virginia Tech first rescinded its ideological litmus test for faculty in its liberal arts college under pressure from FIRE, the school has slowly been making progress toward intellectual freedom. Most recently, Virginia Tech removed a politicized elaboration of “diversity accomplishments” from its university-wide tenure and promotion guidelines. A separate document still contains the diversity guidelines, however. The university also has yet to retract its demands that faculty demonstrate such “diversity accomplishments” when seeking raises, tenure, or promotion. These demands violate faculty members’ freedom of conscience and academic freedom by politicizing the consideration of their teaching, scholarship, and personal development […]

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech): Ban on Certain Viewpoints and Requirement of Prior Approval for Speech

March 14, 2003

The Attorney General of Virginia’s Office concluded that a new resolution from the Board of Visitors of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) that threatened freedom of speech and assembly at that public institution was unconstitutional and recommended that it not be implemented. The resolution would have declared that no individuals or organizations could meet on university property "if it can be determined that such persons or organizations advocate or have participated in illegal acts of domestic violence and/or terrorism," required all individuals or groups planning to hold a meeting to seek "approval [from] the President of the […]

Hokie Handbook: University Policies for Student Life- Demonstrations and Picketing

Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: May 22, 2018

A demonstration is defined as the assembly of a group of persons to express their views on an issue. Picketing is defined as patrolling a building or area with or without carrying signs or handbills. The university requests that Student Centers and Activities Event Planning receive prior notification of picketing or demonstrations if the event is advertised on campus or presents a potential disruption. When a demonstration is planned or announced under the sponsorship of university- approved student organization, university officials will advise the group leaders of their responsibilities for maintaining order, which may include restrictions on time, place, and manner http://www.policies.vt.edu/5000.pdf.

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Hokie Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- Gender-Based Violence

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: May 22, 2018

Gender-based harassment – acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical aggression, intimidation, or hostility based on sex or sex-stereotyping, even if those acts do not involve conduct of a sexual nature.

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Policy 5215: Sales, Solicitation and Advertising on Campus

Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: May 22, 2018

Informational activity is defined as the distribution of literature and/or petitioning for signatures where no fee is involved nor donations or contributions are sought.

Informational activities may be permitted if they are sponsored by a university-affiliated organization. Such activities require prior approval by the designated authorizing office and are subject to university policies and the reasonable guidelines of the authorizing official.

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Policy 5000: University Facilities Usage and Event Approval

Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: May 22, 2018

All events must have a university sponsor. The sponsor must be an officially listed student organization (as defined by University Policy 8010, Classification of Student Organizations (http://www.policies.vt.edu/8010.pdf)), a university department, a university governance entity (as defined by the University Council By-laws, (http://www.governance.vt.edu/)), a state employee association, or a university-affiliated organization.

…

Use of a facility must be sponsored and scheduled (see Section 2.2, Sponsorship and Request for Event Approval) prior to the event.

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Bias‐Related Incident Protocol

Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: May 22, 2018

Bias incidents are expressions against a person or group because of the person’s or group’s age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law.

[…]

• Examples of bias‐related conduct include:
  Words or actions that contradict the spirit of the Principles of Community
• Jokes that are demeaning to a particular group of people
• Holding a “date” or “slave” auction
• Performing a skit in which participants use blackface or other ethnic group makeup or props
• Hosting a culturally themed party
• Assuming characteristics of a minority group for advertising
• Posting flyers that contain demeaning language or images.

Virginia Tech recognizes two categories of bias incidents. An incident does not need to meet all criteria listed below.

Localized bias incident:

• Seen or heard by few people
• No violation of university policy
• No interest from media
• Cannot be investigated as a hate crime.

Community bias incident:

• Seen or heard by many
• Violates university policy
• Media and/or interest from outside the university community
• Can be investigated as a hate crime.

[…]

Response is driven by the two categories of bias‐related incidents listed above.

Localized Bias Incident = Localized Response

• Incidents that are localized or contained within a limited area of campus and seen or heard by a limited number of people.
• For a localized bias‐related incident (i.e., occurring within a limited area of campus, such as a residence hall bathroom), the administrator closest to the incident will address the issue, facilitate a response that resonates with the student or group of students involved, and issue a community statement if appropriate.

Community Bias Incident = Community Response

• Incidents that are widely known and/or violate policy will be processed by a Core Response Team.
• For a community bias‐related incident, the Core Response Team will determine if the incident can be considered a crime and whether a message from university administration is appropriate. This Core Response Team will be called together as soon as feasible when reports are shared with the Dean of Students Office. The Core Response Team will be called upon for all such incidents.

[…]

Free Speech: Virginia Tech is a place where the free exchange of ideas is valued and every person’s perspective is important. Freedom of speech in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by many state constitutions and state and federal laws. Free speech provisions protect many forms of intolerant statements, expressions, and conduct.   Depending on the circumstances, a bias‐related incident may not be a crime. In certain contexts, courts have found hate speech to be protected even though many in the university community find it repugnant. If these expressions are inconsistent with Virginia Tech’s Principles of Community, they may present an educational opportunity for better understanding protected speech and the role of tolerance in the campus community.   Some bias‐related incidents may violate the Student Code of Conduct and may be adjudicated through the student conduct system. Virginia Tech cannot adjudicate matters that are deemed protected speech. Behavior that is discriminatory or otherwise hurtful to members of the community is addressed through educational interventions. Virginia Tech is committed to stopping these behaviors. Because some incidents may be beyond the reach of policy and laws, it is imperative that the university respond as a unified community to denounce such behavior. Acts of intolerance require all members of the university community to uphold the shared values outlined in the Virginia Tech Principles of Community. Regardless of whether incidents violate policy or are inappropriate or insensitive, it is crucial that Virginia Tech respond in a timely and consistent manner. All parties involved ‐‐ those who report such incidents as well as those accused ‐‐ will be treated with respect, consideration, and concern. Those involved will be given the opportunity to civilly discuss the incident with a trained professional and will be apprised of their options for resolving the incident.

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Acceptable Use of Information Systems at Virginia Tech

Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: May 22, 2018

In making acceptable use of resources you must NOT: … * use university systems for commercial or partisan political purposes, such as using electronic mail to circulate advertising for products or for political candidates. * use mail or messaging services to harass or intimidate another person, for example, by broadcasting unsolicited messages, by repeatedly sending unwanted mail, or by using someone else’s name or userid.

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Virginia Tech Principles of Community

Speech Code Category: Policies Restricting Freedom of Conscience
Last updated: May 22, 2018

[W]e adopt and practice the following principles as fundamental to our on-going efforts to increase access and inclusion and to create a community that nurtures learning and growth for all of its members: … We reject all forms of prejudice and discrimination, including those based on age, color, disability, gender, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, and veteran status. We take individual and collective responsibility for helping to eliminate bias and discrimination and for increasing our own understanding of these issues through education, training, and interaction with others.

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Hokie Handbook: Student Code of Conduct- Abusive Conduct

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: May 22, 2018

Any use of words or acts that cause physical injury, or threaten any individual, or interfere with any individual’s rightful actions, including but not limited to the following:

1.    Assault — Verbal/Non-verbal:  Words or actions that would cause an individual reason to fear for his or her immediate safety. Words can constitute assault when they are accompanied by the ability to inflict immediate harm. …

3. Harassment — Conduct not of a sexual nature (including but not limited to physical, verbal, graphic, written, or electronic) that is sufficiently severe, pervasive, or persistent so as to threaten an individual or limit the ability of an individual to work, study, or participate in the activities of the university.

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Policy 1025: Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: May 22, 2018

Discrimination and/or Harassment- … Conduct of any type (oral, written, graphic, electronic or physical) that is based upon a person’s age, color, disability, gender (including pregnancy), gender identity, gender expression, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status and unreasonably interferes with the person’s work or academic performance or participation in university activities, or creates a working or learning environment that a reasonable person would find hostile, threatening or intimidating.

…

Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment – Conduct of any type (oral, written, graphic, electronic or physical) that is based upon a person’s sex (including pregnancy), and unreasonably interferes with the person’s work or academic performance or limits participation in university activities, or creates a working or learning environment that a reasonable person would find hostile, threatening or intimidating.

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Obama Slams Intolerant Liberals in Howard U Commencement Address

May 9, 2016

By Michael Gryboski at The Christian Post President Barack Obama told the graduating students of Howard University they should not engage in the practice of disinviting controversial speakers or disrupting political rallies… Read more here.

Effectiveness of College Threat Assessment Teams is Debated

November 21, 2015

By Ryan J. Foley at Associated Press IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — As the fall semester began, communications professor and campus jester Kembrew McLeod organized a parody news conference to poke fun at the University of Iowa’s governing board, expecting annoyed administrators might show up. Instead, a detective with the campus threat assessment team was there waiting for him. McLeod said the sending of a detective was at once intimidating and absurd, while public safety director David Visin said it was appropriate, noting administrators had received a phony email inviting them to the news conference from someone posing as a […]

Public University Pulls Funding From Conservative Group After Illegal Immigration Event

November 12, 2014

By Kaitlyn Schallhorn at Campus Reform Virginia Tech has rescinded funding from a conservative student group after it hosted an event on illegal immigration. Va. Tech’s Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) chapter last month hosted Bay Buchanan, a political commentator who served as the youngest U.S. Treasurer under Ronald Reagan, to speak about immigration. According to Va. Tech’s student newspaper, the event was advertised with fliers calling the event, “Alien Invasion: How Illegal Immigration is Hurting America.” “This combination of language and imagery is offensive, insensitive and a blatant act of disrespect towards the immigrant community and the Virginia Tech […]

UVa plans to revise sexual misconduct policy

May 5, 2011

The University of Virginia plans to revise its sexual misconduct policy to broaden the scope of offenses and to lower the standard of evidence necessary to find a student guilty. Under the policy, sexual misconduct would become the umbrella term to include any unwelcome sexual behavior. The revision more precisely defines what constitutes assault, harassment and exploitation, including offenses such as cyberstalking, the recording of sexual images and the knowing transmission of a sexually transmitted infection. The policy also would eliminate the geographic limit on UVa’s jurisdiction, which under current policy covers university property or a student or employee residence […]

You Can’t Say That Here — This Is a University!

November 2, 2010

by A. Barton Hinkle Richmond Times-Dispatch Teresa Sullivan has been in the president’s office for only a brief period, but the University of Virginia already has made a tremendous improvement on her watch. The Foundation for Individ ual Rights in Education (FIRE), an organization dedicated to protecting free speech on campus, reports that it has conferred its green-light award on Mr. Jefferson’s university. UVa thereby becomes one of only 13 colleges in the nation — William & Mary is another — to receive the rare designation, which the Charlottesville school earned by revising its egregious speech codes. Those speech codes […]

Va. Tech threatens to pull funding from campus newspaper

February 12, 2010

A leader at Virginia Tech’s campus newspaper said the organization will sue in court if the university goes forward with a threat to cut its funding and disrupt its advertising revenues. The Collegiate Times was notified in writing this week by the Commission on Student Affairs that it may be in violation of the university’s “Principles of Community” for allowing anonymous online comments to be posted to its Web site. In a letter to Kelly Wolff, general manager of the Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech, dated Feb. 8, commission chairwoman Michelle McLeese laid out a proposal that, if approved, […]

University should not pressure faculty to alter their research

October 14, 2009

Virginia Tech is trying to walk a fine line when it promotes “diversity” as strongly as possible. Unfortunately, the university often crosses the line when it coerces faculty members to conform to the university’s “diversity” mission. Last month, my organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, sent the university’s Board of Visitors a 15-page letter with with 13 enclosures demonstrating that the university administration has, over the past few years, persistently increased pressure on faculty members to alter their research, teaching and personal development activities in order to show “diversity accomplishments.” FIRE has no position on the university’s diversity […]

At Tech, an ideological dispute over diversity

May 9, 2009

A letter from Virginia Tech’s president reaffirming the university’s commitment to diversity has reignited an ideological dispute over political correctness on campus. Tech officials last month backed away from a proposed policy that critics said tied promotion and tenure to participation in diversity initiatives. An array of mostly conservative organizations had lobbied against the guidelines, calling them an affront to academic freedom and a political litmus test for promotion. Tech maintained the proposal had been mischaracterized by off-campus groups. But the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education said it took up the cause at the request of a tenure-track faculty […]

Virginia Tech, Round 2: Staging Diversity

April 27, 2009

Just weeks after the president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) ordered the provost to cancel a controversial policy, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences is maneuvering to reinstate it.   The discarded policy made tenure and promotion contingent on a faculty member’s demonstrated loyalty to a “diversity” dogma.  The new policy appears set to do much the same thing-but to hide this intent behind a wall of academic jargon. Avowing that, “our commitment to equity and inclusive excellence has never been stronger,” Dean Sue Ott Rowlands, says the College’s “soon-to-be-unveiled strategic plan” […]

Diversity’s role in tenure questioned

April 21, 2009

by Riley Prendergast CollegiateTimes.com This is the first installment in a three part series regarding Virginia Tech’s new policies and plans to focus on diversity in the institution. Related: FIRE’s letter, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences guidelines After sustaining brief but spirited criticism in regard to the role of diversity in professors’ tenure hearings within the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Virginia Tech is exploring ways to clarify the language used regarding the role diversity initiatives play in the faculty selection process. As the guidelines stand in a March 9 draft for promotion and tenure review, […]

Why can’t students say ‘guns’ in school?

April 21, 2009

by Glenn Garvin Miami Herald   Media snicker of the day: those crazy gun nuts, worried that the government is out to snatch their constitutional rights along with their AK-47s. 60 Minutes is the latest to have a chuckle, playing a commercial for a Washington, D.C.-area firearms show that that urges viewers to “Celebrate the Second Amendment and get your guns while you still can!” My own hunch is that the sheer number of Americans who own guns (the low estimate is something over 40 million) will keep their Second Amendment rights off the endangered-species list for the foreseeable future. […]

A diversity step too far

April 19, 2009

Even in the age of Obama, race and other issues related to inclusiveness continue to confound officials at many of the nation’s universities. Virginia Tech is a prime example, where well-meaning officials made the mistake of appearing to require professors to show an “active involvement in diversity” for promotion and consideration for tenure in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. They should have known better than to step on this third rail in academia. As a member of a minority group and as a former college teacher, I wish the Virginia Tech folks had used better judgment and […]

Virginia Tech drops diversity requirement from tenure policy

April 15, 2009

The president of Virginia Tech has asked the provost to remove from the university’s new guidelines on tenure and promotion a requirement that professors show an “active involvement in diversity,” which some conservative groups had criticized as a violation of academic freedom. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and other groups had complained that the condition amounted to a political litmus test and that it had nothing to do with professors’ academic accomplishments. It did not belong, they said, in guidelines on tenure and promotion. The foundation, which is known as FIRE, wrote to Charles W. Steger, Virginia Tech’s […]

Virginia reviews diversity rule

April 12, 2009

The Board of Visitors at Virginia Tech announced last week that it would review the university’s tenure and diversity policies after claims by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education that academic freedom was under threat.” Promoting one’s own view of diversity is one thing but making narrowly defined and politicised views about diversity an ideological requirement for faculty members is quite another,” FIRE* President Greg Lukianoff said. “Political litmus tests have no place in higher education and the Board of Visitors must help defend individual conscience and academic freedom at Virginia Tech.” Lukianoff claimed that over the past three […]

Editorial: Making financial aid a priority will improve campus diversity

April 8, 2009

For high school seniors, available financial aid packages have long served as important precursors for making up one’s mind about where to attend college. At Virginia Tech, potential students can expect to receive their financial aid offering a few days after they’ve received their acceptance notifications. It is very important for Tech to stay competitive with other state colleges when it comes to distributing financial aid. The last thing we would ever want would be to lose qualified applicants to other schools because we failed to put our financial aid offering out there fast enough. For many students, a hefty […]

Commitment to diversity as a job requirement

March 27, 2009

This week in The Chronicle, Robin Wilson has a story on the “diversity” factor in tenure and promotion guidelines at Virginia Tech. According to the guidelines, the promotion and tenure committee “expects all dossiers to demonstrate the candidate’s active involvement in diversity.” The provost at Virginia Tech claims that the guideline does not “require” professors to join diversity activities, but only “encourages” them to do so. The diversity criterion goes back to a few years ago, he adds, when the university wanted to make sure that people who did pursue diversity activities were valued for their efforts. This is a […]

Suitable for framing

March 26, 2009

Last week, NAS wrote about how Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) has made “diversity” service a requirement for faculty promotion and tenure. There, we showed that   “Diversity” is not a category of academic accomplishment equivalent to high-quality teaching or success in scholarly research and publishing. “Diversity” is an ideology. The term summarizes a set of objectives popular on one part of the political spectrum. Virginia Tech, which is a public university, has no business turning a partisan political credo into a test that must be passed for faculty members to win tenure or to advance in rank.   The promotion and […]

Critics challenge diversity language in Virginia Tech’s tenure policy

March 26, 2009

by Robin Wilson The Chronicle of Higher Education   Virginia Tech has come under criticism from some outside groups for a set of new guidelines that, the critics say, appear to require faculty members to show a commitment to diversity as part of their bids for tenure and promotion. The critics, including the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, say the guidelines establish a “loyalty oath” that violates professors’ academic freedom. The guidelines at issue govern faculty members in the university’s College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. They say that a promotion and tenure committee “expects all dossiers to […]

Virginia Tech to Reward Faculty For Promoting Diversity

September 4, 2006

The annual performance evaluations at Virginia Tech University will include a review of faculty members’ activities to promote diversity on campus. Virginia Tech President Charles Steger outlined a plan Aug. 28 to add diversity to the criteria used in evaluating university instructors. Faculty will report any diversity-related activities, such as advising a minority student group or conducting community outreach programs, each spring on their annual activity report. Academic departments use these reports to provide merit pay increases. In his memo, Stager noted that “creating a diverse and inclusive community is an important and long-standing priority for Virginia Tech.” The policy […]

Runaway Board? Unilateral actions at Virginia Tech raise questions about the proper role of trustee

March 28, 2003

Big mandate on campus

September 17, 2002

Jason Riley on His Campus ‘Disinvitation,’ Lack of Intellectual Diversity in Academia

May 4, 2016

In his latest Wall Street Journal (WSJ) op-ed, “I Was Disinvited on Campus,” author and Manhattan Institute senior fellow Jason Riley writes about how he was disinvited from a speaking engagement at Virginia Tech over vague concerns that his opinions might upset people on campus: Last month I was invited by a professor to speak at Virginia Tech in the fall. Last week, the same professor reluctantly rescinded the invitation, citing concerns from his department head and other faculty members that my writings on race in The Wall Street Journal would spark protests. Profiles in campus courage. Riley, author of […]

Political Litmus Test for Faculty at Virginia Tech Gets New Lease on Life

July 31, 2015

Virginia Tech is reinvigorating its crusade to impose an ideological litmus test on professors being assessed for promotion and tenure. The university’s recently updated guidelines for a tenure candidate’s dossier include several previously unwritten provisions highlighting the importance of reporting one’s contributions to “diversity and inclusion” in and out of the classroom in order to get ahead at Virginia Tech. While “diversity” as a concept is open to broad interpretation, in the university setting it has often come to signify a particular set of ideological beliefs and values, often focused on aspects of identity such as race, gender, age, sexual […]

Virginia Tech Supports the Troops and the First Amendment at the Same Time

September 6, 2013

My favorite bumper sticker is an American flag with the caption: “Think. It’s patriotic.” That’s essentially what Steven Salaita, a professor of English at Virginia Tech, was trying to say when he posted commentary on Salon arguing against uncritical support of the military. But he chose to do so in a deliberately provocative way, framing his essay as an explanation for why he declined to donate his change (18 cents) from a convenience store purchase “to support the troops.” The result, according to The Washington Post, was a “backlash” against him that has grown from “outrage on social media into calls […]

Virginia Tech and Student Expression Rights in ‘The Daily Caller’

December 13, 2011

In The Daily Caller today, FIRE Senior Vice President Robert Shibley discusses how unconstitutional policies on the books at Virginia Tech actually prohibit spontaneous gatherings like the candlelight vigil that university members organized after the shooting death of a campus police officer last week. Although the vigil was not shut down, it could have been, and that’s the point: “free speech zone” policies and other burdensome requirements for university approval should not exist in the first place. Robert writes:  The reason that Virginia Tech did not bother enforcing these burdensome requirements on Thursday night is obvious: the university would have […]

Virginia Tech Vice President Worries about New OCR Guidance

June 29, 2011

Fighting for civil liberties on campus can sometimes be a lonely job, but FIRE has been buoyed by the outpouring of concern in recent weeks about the new mandates handed down in April by the federal Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). It seems like we’re not the only ones concerned by the rights-eroding regulations coming out of Washington, D.C.; just ask these commentators what they think about the threats to due process and free speech presented by the new regulations. And it’s not just FIRE and the punditocracy speaking out—add Virginia Tech Vice President for Student Affairs […]

Virginia Newspaper Touts Growing Number of ‘Green Light’ Schools

February 8, 2011

With only 14 “green light” colleges and universities in the entire country, the state of Virginia should be proud to be home to two of them. Writing in the Daily Press (Hampton Roads, Va.), Michael F. Cochrane commends the University of Virginia (UVa) and The College of William & Mary for preserving free speech on campus: As Virginians we can be justly proud that our state has some of the top colleges and universities in the nation. We have colleges that are ranked nationally in sports and academic achievement. But now we have a new reason for pride: The Foundation […]

More Praise for UVA’s New ‘Green-Light’ Rating

January 17, 2011

In a column for Townhall.com, Mike Adams praises the University of Virginia (UVA) for going from a red-light to a green-light school by eliminating the last of its unconstitutional speech codes back in October. Adams describes how FIRE staff encouraged Dean Allen Groves to implement the essential policy reforms: FIRE began working with UVA administrator Dean Allen Groves in April 2010 after Adam Kissel gave a lecture on free speech that was hosted by two UVA student groups – Students for Individual Liberty and Liberty Coalition. Shortly thereafter, Dean Groves received a letter from FIRE, which provided detailed objections to […]

‘Volokh Conspiracy’ and Local Media Decry Virginia Speech Codes

November 3, 2010

Ever since the University of Virginia (UVa) eliminated all four of its speech codes to earn FIRE’s coveted “green light” rating, local and national media have put the spotlight on the speech codes remaining at other public universities in Virginia. When FIRE announced the news, we noted that UVa joins The College of William & Mary as two Virginia institutions in an elite group of 13 “green light” schools and that we are now turning our attention to three more Virginia public universities: George Mason, rated “red light,” and James Madison and Virginia Tech, both rated “yellow light.” How bad for free speech are these three […]

Virginia ACLU Petitions Supreme Court to Overturn Restrictions on Alcohol Advertising

August 27, 2010

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has filed a petition asking the United States Supreme Court to review a recent decision by the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit allowing for the restriction of alcohol-related advertisements in collegiate newspapers. The ACLU of Virginia, which filed the petition (.pdf) on Monday, is challenging the Fourth Circuit’s decision (.pdf) in Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech v. Swecker on behalf of The Collegiate Times and The Cavalier Daily, student newspapers at Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia, respectively. The Times and the Daily have challenged this regulation—instituted by Virginia’s […]

Facing Criticism, Virginia Tech Disavows Efforts to Censor Student Paper

February 15, 2010

In the face of mounting criticism, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) administrators distanced themselves on Friday from efforts to cut the funding of the Collegiate Times, the school’s independent student newspaper, because of the paper’s refusal to eliminate anonymous comments from its website. University spokesman Larry Hincker told The Roanoke Times that Virginia Tech does not support ending the school’s contract with the Collegiate Times or its parent company and is not contemplating a ban on advertising in the newspaper: “This is a student issue. These are students raising this issue with their fellow students” and not […]

‘Roanoke Times’ Covers Press Censorship at Virginia Tech; Gets FIRE Totally Wrong

February 12, 2010

The Roanoke Times (Va.) is covering Virginia Tech’s recent shameful foray into press censorship, which Adam discussed at length yesterday on The Torch. Writer Tonia Moxley’s coverage is actually pretty good and worth a read, but unfortunately Ms. Moxley seems to have a very erroneous idea about the nature of FIRE. Regarding FIRE, she writes: The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is a conservative advocacy group opposed to affirmative action and diversity initiatives on colleges [sic] campuses. In April, the group objected to discussion of diversity policies that might have affected employment decisions at Tech. Moxley got our name […]

Virginia Tech Threatens Student Newspaper’s Future Because it Allows Anonymous Online Comments

February 11, 2010

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University‘s (Virginia Tech’s) Commission on Student Affairs has threatened the future of its independent student newspaper, the Collegiate Times, because the newspaper allows “irresponsible and inappropriate”—wait for it—anonymous comments on its own website. Virginia Tech contends that allowing anonymous comments “counter[s] the Principles of Community,” a set of ideological rules that, applied in this way, violate the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. According to a February 8, 2010, letter from Michelle McLeese, Chair, Commission on Student Affairs, to the Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech, Inc. (EMCVT)—the organization […]

‘The Diversity Religion at Virginia Tech’

October 28, 2009

“Pushing professors to conform to any set of beliefs is inappropriate,” writes Carey Stronach, president of the Virginia Association of Scholars (VAS), in a very good article yesterday for the Pope Center’s Clarion Call. Stronach writes about FIRE’s case at Virginia Tech, where professors have been increasingly pressured to demonstrate “diversity accomplishments” when being assessed for the quality of their work. Diversity sounds like a lofty goal. Who (this side of the Ku Klux Klan) is opposed to diversity? Who still favors excluding people just because of race or other innate characteristics? Those of us who marched with Dr. King in […]

Rights in the News: With FIRE’s Help, Students Standing Up to Their Speech Codes

October 16, 2009

FIRE was elated to begin the week with the announcement that The College of William & Mary had reformed the last of its troublesome speech codes and become one of just eleven colleges to earn a “green light” rating in FIRE’s Spotlight database. Perhaps the fever has spread to neighboring James Madison University, where the focus has intensified on JMU’s policy on “Obscene Conduct” since it was named FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month. Not surprisingly, heightened awareness of the policy sowed discontent among the student body–enough so that this week JMU’s student newspaper The Breeze reported that JMU has […]

Mandatory ‘Diversity Accomplishments’ at Virginia Tech Violate Faculty Rights; FIRE Details Violations in 15-page Letter to Board of Visitors

September 16, 2009

FIRE has sent Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors a 15-page letter with 13 enclosures detailing how administrators have begun to demand “diversity accomplishments” from faculty members across the university over the past several years. Professors are expected to alter their own research, teaching, and personal intellectual development in order to prove their loyalty to Virginia Tech’s political agenda. Those who lack the right “diversity accomplishments” will see diminished career prospects, including for tenure and promotion. FIRE is calling on the Virginia Tech’s board to rescind the coercive elements of its diversity agenda. In FIRE’s September 14, 2009, letter to John R. Lawson, […]

Bit by Bit, Virginia Tech Softens Ideological ‘Diversity’ Requirements for Faculty; Much More To Be Done for Freedom of Conscience

July 8, 2009

After Virginia Tech rescinded its ideological litmus test for faculty (pending further review) in its liberal arts college under pressure from FIRE, the school has recently removed a long, ominous explanation of “diversity accomplishments” from its university-wide tenure and promotion guidelines. A separate document still contains the diversity guidelines, however. The university also has yet to retract its demands that faculty demonstrate such “diversity accomplishments” when seeking raises, tenure, or promotion. These demands violate faculty members’ freedom of conscience and academic freedom by politicizing the consideration of their teaching, scholarship, and personal development activities, forcing them to demonstrate allegiance to […]

FIRE’s Letter to the Editor of ‘The Roanoke Times’

May 18, 2009

Last week, I discussed the inaccuracies and distortions contained in an editorial published by The Roanoke Times attacking FIRE. Specifically, the paper dismissed FIRE’s concerns about the constitutionality of Virginia Tech’s proposed guidelines for evaluating candidates for promotion and tenure, labeling FIRE a “conservative group that oppose[s] campus diversity efforts across the country.” In addition to discussing the significant problems with the editorial here on The Torch, I also penned a letter to the Times‘ editors, correcting their misapprehensions. Unfortunately, the paper has failed to publish our letter, thus denying us the opportunity to set the record straight. We are […]

Getting it Wrong: ‘Roanoke Times’ Editorial Mischaracterizes FIRE and Problems with Virginia Tech’s Diversity Requirements

May 13, 2009

An editorial in today’s edition of The Roanoke Times attacks FIRE for criticizing Virginia Tech’s proposed hiring guidelines for evaluating candidates for promotion and tenure. The guidelines, now withdrawn, would have required candidates to demonstrate a commitment to an abstract, ideologically loaded concept—”diversity”—that means many different things to different people. While perhaps well-intentioned, imposing the guidelines would have meant that regardless of their own beliefs, candidates would have had to pledge allegiance to the school’s conception of “diversity,” or risk losing their job or promotion. As we’ve explained at length in this space and in our letter to VT, that’s […]

FIRE Critic on ‘Chronicle of Higher Education’ Blog Acknowledges Error

May 8, 2009

I reported on April 16 that University of Pennsylvania professor John L. Jackson Jr. had attacked FIRE in a blog entry published on The Chronicle of Higher Education blog, Brainstorm, over FIRE’s successful efforts to keep Virginia Tech from violating its faculty members’ freedom of conscience and academic freedom. Jackson had erroneously stated that FIRE would “reject any and all nods to affirmative action or other diversity initiatives” and had averred that “Maybe FIRE’s hidden concern is that ‘active involvement in diversity’ could serve as another way of justifying tenure to otherwise undeserving minority scholars.” In fact, FIRE has never […]

Rights in the News: FIRE’s Thought Reform Efforts Continue to Resonate

May 1, 2009

It seems like every week we’re reporting that FIRE’s short film on the University of Delaware’s experiment in thought reform has doubled the amount of views received on YouTube from the week before—a trend I’m all too happy to continue. This week the folks at Reason (which—throwback!—published Alan Charles Kors’ article “Thought Reform 101” back in 2000) gave FIRE an extra hand by blogging about the video on their website, helping to push it toward 50,000 views. Thought reform at Delaware was also the subject of Robert’s article this week for Pajamas Media. Robert also discussed Virginia Tech’s efforts at […]

Rights in the News: FIRE on a Roll with Numerous Victories and Successful Videos

April 24, 2009

The past week at FIRE has been filled with victories for free speech on campus, and the media has responded. After FIRE’s victory for freedom of conscience at Virginia Tech, the St. Petersburg Times published a column by Bill Maxwell entitled “A diversity step too far.” In it, Maxwell agrees with FIRE’s efforts to protect freedom of conscience at VT, writing: Although diversity is a worthy goal, suggesting that evidence of it is required as one of the activities in professors’ annual report for advancement and tenure is wrong. As a former professor, I would not want to be forced […]

Rights in the News: A Good Week for FIRE at Virginia Tech

April 17, 2009

I blogged on Wednesday on the press generated by FIRE’s successful effort to get Virginia Tech President Charles Steger to shelve a requirement that would have more deeply ensconced a “diversity” requirement for tenure and promotion for the university’s arts and sciences faculty. FIRE’s efforts and success at Virginia Tech were reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) and the Richmond Times-Dispatch as well as several blogs. You also may have noticed that there was a bit of a ruckus kicked up by University of Pennsylvania professor John L. Jackson, Jr., in a post on Brainstorm, a blog […]

FIRE Attacked on ‘Chronicle of Higher Education’ Blog over Virginia Tech

April 16, 2009

University of Pennsylvania professor John L. Jackson Jr. has attacked FIRE in a blog entry published on The Chronicle of Higher Education blog, Brainstorm, over FIRE’s successful efforts to keep Virginia Tech from violating its faculty members’ freedom of conscience and academic freedom. FIRE is used to criticism from all corners of the political arena. Indeed, we view much of this criticism as evidence that we’re doing our job effectively. But Jackson’s attack warrants response because it unfairly distorts our concerns with Virginia Tech’s pressure on faculty candidates for promotion and tenure to demonstrate a commitment to “diversity.” First, Jackson […]

Victory at Virginia Tech: Good News Travels Fast

April 15, 2009

News of FIRE’s victory for freedom of conscience at Virginia Tech has been spreading quickly—unsurprising, given the proposed “diversity” requirement’s chilling implications for the academic freedom of the Virginia Tech faculty. The Chronicle of Higher Education is among the publications to report on Virginia Tech President Charles Steger’s decision to rescind the requirement, which had been roundly criticized by FIRE, the National Association of Scholars, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, and Virginia Tech’s own student paper, The Collegiate Times, among others. The Richmond Times-Dispatch should be pleased to hear the news as well, having published a good editorial […]

FIRE Co-founder Commends Virginia Tech President for Withdrawing Ideological Litmus Test

April 15, 2009

FIRE Co-founder and Chairman Emeritus Alan Charles Kors e-mailed the president of Virginia Tech last night to commend him on his school’s decision to withdraw its ideological “diversity” requirements for promotion and tenure.  Alan writes: Dear President Steger, You have intervened where it is most appropriate, to preserve and protect the most cherished of freedoms:  freedom of conscience and belief.  It is frightening that individuals, however well-intentioned, thought to coerce ideological uniformity, but it is a wonderful thing that you have done in the exercise of your responsibilities and obligations as the president of a free institution in a free […]

Victory for Freedom of Conscience at Virginia Tech: New ‘Diversity’ Requirements for Tenure and Promotion No Longer Under Consideration, But Problematic Policies Remain

April 14, 2009

Today’s press release announces what the Virginia Tech faculty appear not even to know, yet: the proposed new guidelines for faculty assessment in Virginia Tech’s College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, which would have mandated reporting of “diversity” activities in violation of academic freedom and freedom of conscience, are no longer under consideration. FIRE had called on President Charles W. Steger to rescind the proposed guidelines after a tenure-track faculty member came to us for help. This is an important first step towards preserving faculty rights, but much more needs to be done. Over the past three years, Virginia […]

Victory for Freedom of Conscience at Virginia Tech: New ‘Diversity’ Requirements for Tenure and Promotion No Longer Under Consideration, But Problematic Policies Remain

April 14, 2009

BLACKSBURG, Va., April 14, 2009—The president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) has announced that proposed new guidelines for faculty assessment, which would have mandated reporting of “diversity” activities in violation of academic freedom and freedom of conscience, are no longer under consideration. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) had called on President Charles W. Steger to rescind the proposed guidelines after a tenure-track faculty member came to FIRE for help. “By shelving mandatory ‘diversity’ requirements for tenure and promotion candidates, President Steger has taken an important first step towards preserving faculty rights,” FIRE President […]

Adam’s Letter to the Editor at Virginia Tech on Mandatory ‘Diversity Accomplishments’

April 10, 2009

FIRE’s Adam Kissel wrote a letter to the editor of the Collegiate Times, Virginia Tech’s student newspaper, in response to a column last week by Ellington Graves challenging FIRE’s criticism of Virginia Tech’s diversity requirements for faculty members and accusing FIRE of rendering a “poorly reasoned analysis.” Adam sets the record straight. Readers should examine the policy documents and FIRE’s analysis for themselves at www.thefire.org. In particular, they should read Provost McNamee’s May 29, 2008, memo to all department heads and to promotion and tenure committees, in which he demands, “Candidates must do a better job of participating in and […]

New Virginia Tech ‘Diversity’ Requirements for Tenure Violate Academic Freedom, Will Be Comprehensively Reviewed by Board of Visitors

April 6, 2009

After being alerted to mandatory “diversity” requirements for faculty tenure, promotion, and personal development, the Board of Visitors at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) has agreed to fully review the school’s tenure and diversity policies, FIRE’s press release reports today. Over the past three years, Virginia Tech’s provost, Mark McNamee, has increasingly demanded ideological conformity in the form of “diversity accomplishments” from the school’s faculty. Last year, in a memo to all department heads and promotion and tenure committees, he insisted that candidates for promotion or tenure “do a better job of participating in and documenting their […]

New Virginia Tech ‘Diversity’ Requirements for Tenure Violate Academic Freedom, Will Be Comprehensively Reviewed by Board of Visitors

April 6, 2009

BLACKSBURG, Va., April 6, 2009—After being alerted to mandatory “diversity” requirements for faculty tenure, promotion, and personal development, the Board of Visitors at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) has agreed to fully review the school’s tenure and diversity policies. “Promoting one’s own view of diversity is one thing, but making narrowly defined and politicized views about diversity an ideological requirement for faculty members is quite another,” FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. “Political litmus tests have no place in higher education and the Board of Visitors must help defend individual conscience and academic freedom at Virginia Tech.” Over […]

Greg in ‘Huffington Post’ on ‘Hell Week for Campus Free Speech’

April 3, 2009

Defending free speech is often an exhilarating and rewarding experience, fighting the good fight in an uphill battle for constitutional rights against an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars. But sometimes, and this was one of those weeks, that hill looks pretty steep. Greg writes in his latest column on The Huffington Post on the “hell week for campus free speech.” FIRE broke the story of newspaper theft at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where students stole copies of a conservative student paper right in front of a campus police officer (all caught on tape). The University of […]

Response from ACTA to John R. Lawson

April 2, 2009

FIRE Reaches Virginia Tech Community with Column in ‘The Collegiate Times’

April 1, 2009

Yesterday on The Torch, Adam wrote convincingly about how Virginia Tech’s efforts to impose vague requirements of a commitment to “diversity” on faculty for tenure and promotion is every bit as much a violation of academic freedom and freedom of conscience as requiring a commitment to similarly amorphous ideals, such as “patriotism” or “Christianity.” The Collegiate Times, the student newspaper of Virginia Tech, has published a version of Adam’s Torch entry in its editorial section today, helping FIRE’s concerns about this invasive and unconstitutional threat to reach the constituency most in need of hearing them: the more than 30,000 students […]

Virginia Tech to Demand ‘Diversity’ Conformity by Vote

March 30, 2009

Suppose the provost at your college started a new “patriotism” initiative. In the first year, he would permit faculty members to self-report their “patriotism accomplishments.” In the second year, faculty members would be strongly encouraged to report their “patriotism accomplishments” on their annual reports of their activities. In the third year, faculty members would be told that “patriotism accomplishments are especially important for faculty seeking tenure and promotion,” and dossiers for tenure and promotion would include a multi-part section on “patriotism.” There would be a list of kinds of activities that would count as sufficiently “patriotic.” Faculty assessment in the […]

Rights in the News: FIRE Stands up for Virginia Tech Faculty

March 27, 2009

As you may have read in The Torch this week, FIRE is leading the charge against requirements at Virginia Tech that tie tenure and promotion to a commitment to “diversity”—requirements that amount to a political loyalty oath for faculty members. Such requirements, as FIRE and others have written, are a serious threat to academic freedom and freedom of conscience. In addition to Adam’s coverage of FIRE’s efforts at Virginia Tech, Robin Wilson of The Chronicle of Higher Education has written on the growing criticism directed at the guidelines (subscription required). Ashley Thorne at the National Association of Scholars notes FIRE’s […]

Mark Bauerlein on Virginia Tech Diversity Requirement for Faculty Assessment

March 27, 2009

Today CFN faculty member and Emory professor Mark Bauerlein adds his voice to that of FIRE, the National Association of Scholars, and others against Virginia Tech’s requirement of “diversity accomplishments” for faculty tenure and promotion. Bauerlein writes: This week in The Chronicle, Robin Wilson has a story on the “diversity” factor in tenure and promition guidelines at Virginia Tech. According to the guidelines, the promotion and tenure committee “expects all dossiers to demonstrate the candidate’s active involvement in diversity.” The Provost at Virginia Tech claims that the guideline does not “require” professors to join diversity activities, but only “encourages” them […]

Virginia Tech Mandates ‘Diversity’ for Faculty Promotion, Despite Denial

March 26, 2009

Yesterday FIRE wrote Virginia Tech’s president, Charles Steger, calling on him to abandon proposed new guidelines for faculty assessment that would seriously violate faculty members’ academic freedom and their constitutional right to freedom of conscience. The proposal would force faculty members in Virginia Tech’s College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences to adhere to an ideological loyalty oath to an entirely abstract concept—”diversity”—that can represent vastly different things to different people. Faculty are to be evaluated with “special attention” to the candidate’s “involvement in diversity initiatives.” If adopted, this requirement will inevitably interfere with faculty members’ moral and intellectual freedom […]

FIRE Calls on Virginia Tech to Abandon New Political Litmus Test for Faculty

March 25, 2009

Today FIRE has called on Charles W. Steger, President of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), to abandon proposed new guidelines for faculty assessment that would seriously violate faculty members’ academic freedom and their constitutional right to freedom of conscience. The proposal would force faculty members in Virginia Tech’s College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences to adhere to an ideological loyalty oath to an entirely abstract concept — “diversity” — that can represent vastly different things to different people. Faculty are to be evaluated with “special attention” to the candidate’s “involvement in diversity initiatives.” This includes “demonstrating […]

Political Litmus Test for Faculty at Virginia Tech

March 18, 2009

Peter Wood at the National Association of Scholars has drawn attention to a disturbing prospect at Virginia Tech—a requirement that all candidates for tenure and promotion display “active involvement in diversity,” threatening the academic freedom and freedom of conscience of Virginia Tech’s faculty. This new requirement is reminiscent of FIRE’s 2001 case at Bucks County Community College (BCCC), in which BCCC attempted to require applicants for new faculty to “provide a brief statement of your commitment to diversity and how this commitment is demonstrated in your work.” Under pressure from FIRE, BCCC dropped the requirement. Of the similar requirement now […]

FIRE on the Virginia Tech Massacre

April 17, 2007

FIRE is saddened and horrified by the events at Virginia Tech yesterday, where 32 students and faculty were killed and yet more were injured by a fellow student. Words do not adequately capture the scale and tragedy of the loss. Parents, students, faculty members, administrators, and the Virginia Tech community have our deepest condolences.