School Spotlight
Western Kentucky University
Speech Code Rating
Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: March 18, 2021Examples of inappropriate conduct include: … Using abusive or harassing language in either public or private messages or content. Knowingly visiting pornographic or illegal sites; and/or disseminating, soliciting, or storing sexually oriented messages or images that are not required as part of educational req... Read MoreTitle IX: Sexual Assault/Misconduct Brochure
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 18, 2021Sexual Misconduct/Assault Defined Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: • Unwelcome physical contact such as touching; • Persistent, unwelcome requests for sexual contact; • Requests for romantic or sexual contact from someone who grades, advises, or supervises you; • Sexualized behavior accompani... Read MoreFirst Amendment & Academic Freedom
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: March 19, 2021Title IX is intended to protect students from sex discrimination, not to regulate the content of speech. The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recognizes that the offensiveness of a particular expression as perceived by some students, standing alone, is not a legally sufficient basis to establish a sexually hostile envir... Read MoreDiscrimination and Harassment Policy
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 19, 2021B. Harassment: any physical, behavioral or verbal abuse of a person based upon race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, marital status, age, uniform service, veteran status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, or ... Read MoreRegulations Governing Time, Place and Manner of Meetings, Assemblies or Demonstrations
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: March 18, 2021Planned or spontaneous meetings, assemblies or demonstrations may be conducted by members of the University community in those appropriate areas of the campus which are regularly available to the University community … Reservations are not required for utilization of the following areas: … WKU is an open... Read MoreStudent Code of Conduct: Harassment
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 18, 2021Harassment. Any physical, behavioral or verbal abuse of a person based upon gender, race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sexual orientation, marital status, age, uniform service, veteran status, or physical or mental disability, where: 1. Tolerance of or participation in th... Read MorePolicy 0.2070: Sex and Gender-Based Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 19, 2021Sexual Harassment: Conduct on the basis of sex that occurs in the University’s education program or education activity, and satisfies one or more of the following: … Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, and pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person... Read More
Student Newspaper’s First Amendment Lawsuit Against University of Kansas Administrators Is Important Reminder about Need to Check Student Government Power
February 10, 2016
On February 5, the University Daily Kansan filed a lawsuit against two administrators of the University of Kansas (KU), alleging that the administrators failed to intervene when the student government slashed funding to the Kansan over an editorial criticizing the results of a student government election. The Kansan story begins in April 2014, when a… Read more
Western Kentucky University Revises Speech Code of the Month Policy
March 17, 2014
In some good news for free speech on campus, Western Kentucky University (WKU) has revised a “Computing Ethics” policy that drew condemnation from the university’s Student Government Association (SGA) and was named FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month for March 2014. Because this was WKU’s only “red light” policy, the university now earns an improved, “yellow light” rating in FIRE’s Spotlight database.
Speech Code of the Month: Western Kentucky University
March 10, 2014
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for March 2014: Western Kentucky University (WKU). WKU’s Computing Ethics Policy prohibits using university email to send messages that are “reasonably likely to be perceived as offensive or disparaging” based on personal characteristics, and it also prohibits the use of email for “advocating religious or political opinions.” This viewpoint-discriminatory policy effectively shuts down open discourse over the university’s email system and threatens academic freedom by severely restricting what students and faculty members can say—and how they can say it—when discussing important political and social issues.
Continuing Progress for Western Kentucky University Reform Efforts
October 29, 2013
As FIRE’s Sarah McLaughlin reported earlier this month, students at Western Kentucky University (WKU) are working to move their university one step closer to a better Spotlight rating. Last week, WKU’s College Heights Herald reported on the continuing success of their efforts. Torch readers may remember that Student Government Association (SGA) Director of Public Relations Laura Harper has spearheaded the reform movement… Read more
Student at IU Attempts to Censor Fellow Students by Vandalizing Pro-Life Display
October 1, 2013
FIRE often exposes how colleges censor students—but last week, it was a student at Indiana University who decided to engage in some vigilante censorship by vandalizing a pro-life display. According to a student account, new student organization Students for Life at IU intended to have a peaceful demonstration on campus as part of an organized protest dubbed the “Planned… Read more
Western Kentucky Removes Restrictions on Social Media, but Policy Remains a ‘Red Light’
March 23, 2012
Western Kentucky University (WKU) has revised a "red light" policy in its Student Handbook regulating student use of social media, according to the WKU student newspaper the College Heights Herald. The move is a boon for WKU students’ free speech rights, who will now enjoy greater freedoms when using Facebook, Twitter, and other social media…. Read more
Western Kentucky U. Getting Tough on Social Media at Expense of First Amendment
February 27, 2012
As reported late last week by the College Heights Herald and today by the Associated Press, Western Kentucky University is making alarming inroads against its students’ use of social media. First, WKU President Gary Ransdell took to the university’s official Facebook page with this message for students about "responsible" use of social media applications. Ransdell… Read more
Western Kentucky U. Student Senator Seeks to Reform ‘Red Light’ Policy
February 22, 2012
The College Heights Herald, the main student newspaper at Western Kentucky University (WKU), reports a promising development coming from WKU’s Student Government Association. Student senator Christopher Costa, the Herald reports, is preparing a resolution for consideration by the SGA that would call for the removal of WKU’s External Computer Use and Ethics policy from WKU’s… Read more
Your Tuition Dollars at Work
September 16, 2010
We have written before about the problem of administrative bloat on college campuses and its tendency to lead to the micromanagement of students’ lives, particularly in the area of free speech. As Azhar discussed last month here on The Torch, a recent study by the Goldwater Institute found that between 1993 and 2007, the number… Read more