Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Location: Worcester, Massachusetts
Website: http://www.wpi.edu
Type: Private
Federal Circuit: 1st Circuit
Speech Code Rating
Worcester Polytechnic Institute has been given the speech code rating Red. A red light university has at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech. Read more here.
Red Light Policies
Campus Code of Conduct: Additional Policies and Procedures- Equal Opportunity, Anti-Discrimination & Harassment and Sexual Harassment
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: November 17, 2017Unlawful discrimination or harassment consists of treating a person differently in any WPI program or activity based on their race, sex, age, color, national origin, religion, genetic identity, disability, gender identity or expression, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, transgender status, veteran status, or any other protected status. This includes, for example, the display or circulation of written or electronic materials or pictures degrading to either gender or to racial, ethnic, or religious groups; and verbal abuse or insults directed at or made in the presence of members of a racial, ethnic, or minority group.
Office of Residential Services: Community Standards for Living on Campus
Speech Code Category: Posting and Distribution Policies
Last updated: November 17, 2017The doors of the student rooms may be decorated but are considered public areas. Such decorations may not damage door surfaces or create health or safety hazards. In addition, obscene or offensive materials are strictly prohibited.
Acceptable Use Policy
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: November 17, 2017Users must not use any WPI system or service for unethical or illegal activities. Users shall respect the privacy of others, use data only as authorized by the data owner, and not use WPI technology resources to harass or attack others.
Campus Code of Conduct: Glossary of Terms
Speech Code Category: Bullying Policies
Last updated: November 17, 2017The repeated use of a written, verbal, or electronic expression or a physical act or gesture, directed at a victim that causes physical or emotional harm to the victim, damage to the victim’s property, places the victim in reasonable fear of harm to himself/herself or of damage to his/her property, or creates a hostile environment for the victim.
Undergraduate Housing Contract
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: November 17, 2017Acts of intolerance, physical violence, and/or harassment of any kind will not be tolerated.
Campus Code of Conduct: Introduction
Speech Code Category: Other Speech Codes
Last updated: November 17, 2017WPI’s Student Responsibilities and Code of Conduct, hereby known as the Code of Conduct, is designed to foster and maintain an environment where students can grow academically and socially. The university exercises latitude in defining and interpreting standards of behavior, and in developing policies and procedures to support our institutional goals and mission.
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We expect all students to adhere to the guiding principles of honesty and integrity; to show respect for all people and ideas; and to make positive contributions to enhance their learning opportunities. They must honor the rights of other community members and be thoughtful about the ways their actions positively and negatively influence and impact others.
Campus Code of Conduct: Additional Policies and Procedures- Equal Opportunity, Anti-Discrimination & Harassment and Sexual Harassment
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: November 17, 2017Sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment where … such advances, requests or conduct have the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance by creating an intimidating, hostile, humiliating or sexually offensive work environment.
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The following are some examples of conduct that depending on the circumstances, may rise to the level of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment: …
• Sexual epithets, jokes, written or oral references to sexual conduct; gossip regarding one’s sex life; comments on one’s body; comments about one’s sexual activity, deficiencies or prowess;
• Displaying sexually suggestive objects, pictures, cartoons;
• Unwelcome leering, whistling, brushing against the body, sexual gestures, suggestive or insulting comments;
• Inquiries into one’s sexual experiences;
• Discussion of one’s sexual activities; …
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Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Can’t Say They Didn’t Warn You
December 22, 2005
Prospective students beware: at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Mass., you don’t have nearly as many rights as your fellow students just down the road at Worcester State. That’s because, as a private institution, WPI is not bound by the U.S. Constitution, and WPI takes full advantage of that by stripping its students of their First Amendment rights. WPI doesn’t try to hide this fact, either. Unlike many private universities, its website makes no promises that students will have the constitutional rights that they enjoy in society at large. Moreover, it prominently advertises that “[s]tudents enter WPI voluntarily…If they do not […]
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