School Spotlight
West Virginia University
Location:
Morgantown, West Virginia
Type:
Public
Speech Code Rating
West Virginia University 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
Acceptable Use of Data and Technology Resources Policy
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: October 13, 2021Individuals authorized to use University Technology Resources and/or access University Data are responsible for: … Using good judgement and common sense, exercising decency, and being professional and respectful; … Read MoreWVU BOG Governance Rule 1.8: Freedom of Expression: Higher Education and the First Amendment
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: October 13, 2021The University expects that persons engaging in expressive activities will demonstrate civility … Read MoreResidence Hall Policies and Guidelines: Community Standards of Conduct- Computer or Electronic Activity
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: October 13, 2021Prohibited computer or electronic activity. “Prohibited computer or electronic activity” means … use of a computer or other electronic device to send obscene or abusive messages; … Read MoreWVU BOG Governance Rule 1.8: Freedom of Expression
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: January 21, 2021The primary function of higher education is to discover and disseminate knowledge by means of research, teaching and public service. To fulfill this function a free interchange of ideas is necessary within its walls and within the world beyond. It follows that the University must do everything it can to ensure withi... Read MoreWVU BOG Finance and Administration Rule 5.5: Use of University Facilities
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: January 21, 2021Assemblies of persons may occur on any public grounds on the campus. All outdoor grounds are public grounds, unless those areas are not generally open to the public, such as Athletic Fields. Outdoor assembly areas, as designated by the University, may be reserved in advance for assemblies of persons with more than 5... Read MoreWVU BOG Governance Rule 1.6: Discrimination, Harassment, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, Domestic Misconduct, Stalking, Retaliation, and Relationships
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: January 21, 20213.3.1 “Harassment” is conduct that creates a Hostile Environment, as defined below, and is based upon an individual’s race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, marital or family status, pregnancy, veteran status, service in the uniformed services (as defined in state and federal law... Read MoreStudent Conduct Code and Discipline Procedure: “Prohibited computer or electronic activity”
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: October 13, 2021“Prohibited computer or electronic activity” means (1) unauthorized entry into a file to use, read, change the contents, or other purpose; (2) unauthorized transfer of a file; (3) unauthorized use of another individual’s identification and password; (4) use of a computer or other electronic device to unreasonably in... Read More
FIRE surveyed roughly 37,000 students at 154 colleges and universities about the climate for free speech at their institutions. In 2021, FIRE released rankings of those schools, based on a number of factors, including openness, tolerance, self-expression, administrative support for free speech, and campus policies, scoring overall speech climate on a scale from 0-100. See the full report on FIRE’s 2021 College Free Speech Rankings for more information.
Rankings / out of 154 colleges surveyed |
|
| Overall Ranking | 112 |
| Ideological Diversity | 10 |
Overall / out of a top score of 100 |
|
| Overall Score | 58.09 |
| Openness | 9.41 |
| Tolerance (Liberals) | 9.22 |
| Tolerance (Conservatives) | 7.43 |
| Administrative Support | 5.9 |
| Comfort | 16.1 |
| Disruptive Conduct | 10.02 |
| Speech Code | YELLOW |
West Virginia University: Fraternities Punished Without a Semblance of Due Process
January 25, 2019
University punishes fraternity without any semblance of due process.
West Virginia University: Limit on Speech to Campus “Free Speech Zones”
February 11, 2002
West Virginia University (WVU) has abandoned a notorious and chilling policy that quarantined free expression to two small areas of campus. FIRE first learned of WVU’s censorship zones from two WVU students, Michael Bomford and Matthew Poe, in November 2001. The students, who founded the West Virginia University Free Speech Consortium, have publicly criticized the… Read more
West Virginia delegates defend open inquiry, with more to be done
August 5, 2020
Twelve members of the West Virginia House of Delegates are defending open inquiry at West Virginia University and calling for needed education on the First Amendment. In a July 30 letter to WVU president E. Gordon Gee, the delegates defend the participation of W.P. Chedester, the chief of West Virginia University Police, in a June… Read more
West Virginia University attempts to claim sanctions are not sanctions and disciplinary proceedings are not disciplinary proceedings
January 18, 2019
West Virginia University Dean of Students G. Corey Farris responded on Dec. 21 to a FIRE letter, which called on the university to rescind sanctions placed on five WVU fraternities without due process. The sanctions — ranging from mandatory educational programs to loss of official university recognition — were a result of the “Reaching the… Read more
West Virginia University re-punishes fraternities for old violations, administrator falsely claims ‘student organizations do not have due process rights’
December 11, 2018
On Dec. 7, 2018, FIRE wrote a letter to West Virginia University asking the university to revoke sanctions imposed on five fraternities by its “Reaching the Summit” working group imposed without basic due process protections. The story of the Reaching the Summit initiative began in February 2018, when President Gordon Gee (no relation to the… Read more
Leadership roundup: How college leaders are answering questions about free speech
April 25, 2017
Controversy around free speech on college campuses seems to only be escalating: Charles Murray’s disastrous visit to Middlebury College, the violent response to Milo Yiannopoulos’ visit to the University of California, Berkeley, the shutting down of Heather Mac Donald’s Claremont McKenna College event, and just last week, Berkeley’s attempt to shut down Ann Coulter’s visit… Read more
West Virginia Joins Other State Courts in Protecting Faculty Records
June 2, 2015
Last month, West Virginia’s highest court joined several other state courts in striking a fair balance between the disclosure of public documents and protecting free academic discourse. On May 21, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia held that West Virginia University School of Medicine (WVU) was not required to release a professor’s documents,… Read more
This Month in FIRE History: The End of a Free Speech Zone at West Virginia University
December 28, 2009
Seven years ago this month, FIRE won our first victory against a so-called “free speech zone” at West Virginia University. The policy, which quarantined free expression to two small areas of campus, was brought to FIRE’s attention by the leaders of the West Virginia University Free Speech Consortium, Michael Bomford and Matthew Poe. It took… Read more
Free Speech Zones, Past and Present
July 10, 2007
In yesterday’s Campus Alert, FIRE’s weekly column in the New York Post, we discussed the disturbing prevalence of free speech zones at America’s public universities. Providing readers with a representative sample of schools that either currently maintain free speech zones or have done so in the past, we wrote: Onerous speech zones have been reported… Read more
WVU Newspaper on Presidential Candidate’s Free Speech Record
April 10, 2007
Bravo to The Daily Athenaeum, West Virginia University (WVU)’s student newspaper, whose editorial board voiced its concern over WVU presidential candidate M. Duane Nellis for free speech issues at Kansas State University (KSU), where Nellis currently serves as provost. In 2005, FIRE joined an amicus brief denouncing the removal of student publications adviser Ronald… Read more
Emmett Hogan on 2006: The More Things Change…?
January 5, 2007
Emmett Hogan is a student at University of Michigan Law School and a luminary early FIRE employee. As we looked back on 2006 in campus rights and abuses I wanted to check in with him for his thoughts on the past year in FIRE history. This was his thoughtful response: One of FIRE’s most gripping… Read more
Zoning Out Free Speech at Joliet Junior College
January 4, 2007
Last week, the Daily Southtown (Ill.) published an editorial criticizing the trustees of Joliet Junior College for adopting a new free speech zone policy. Although the new policy seems to be improved because it moves these zones closer to where students actually gather, the editorial board rightly questions why the policy wasn’t completely abolished. The… Read more
The Trouble with Free Speech Zones
June 24, 2005
The Daytona Beach News-Journal article that Charles discusses below highlights the controversy over many public universities’ “free speech zone” policies—policies that limit free speech to specific, and often tiny, areas of campus. FIRE President David French is quoted as saying that free speech zone policies are “very common”—“[i]t’s gotten to the point where if I’m… Read more
Calls for Censorship in Texas
February 21, 2005
The Denton, Texas, Record-Chronicle carried a story on Saturday (registration required) about an uproar over a free-expression issue at the University of North Texas. Apparently, the university chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT) at UNT held a “Capture an Illegal Immigrant” event to draw attention to what they see as the problem of… Read more
This Month in FIRE History: FIRE Declares Free Speech Should Not Be Quarantined to Tiny ‘Free Speech Zones’
February 17, 2005
Three years ago this month, back when FIRE was in its toddlerhood, we won our very first victory in the battle against so-called Free Speech Zones. These “speech zone” policies restrict free speech and expression to tiny corners of campus and have been identified (and often defeated, thankfully) at dozens of campuses across the country…. Read more