Campus Speech Codes Trend Lower, but More Than 70 Percent of Colleges Restrict Free Speech · 10 December 2009
By Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
PHILADELPHIA, December 8, 2009—Today, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) releases its 2010 report on campus speech codes, revealing that for the second year in a row, the percentage of American colleges and universities that systematically violate students' and faculty members' right to freedom of expression has dropped. However, 71 percent of the 375 campuses analyzed still maintain codes that grant students less freedom of speech than they enjoy off campus.
Spotlight on Speech Codes 2010: The State of Free Speech on Our Nation's
Campuses reports on policies at 375 of the largest and most prestigious
American colleges and universities. FIRE found that while the percentage of
public campuses that unconstitutionally restrict student speech dropped from 77
percent to 71 percent, the percentage of private campuses that similarly
restrict freedom of speech has risen by 3 points from 67 to 70 percent.
"It is an ongoing scandal that so many public and private colleges and
universities maintain rules that so blatantly flout our Constitution and our
national traditions of freedom of speech and academic freedom," FIRE
President
Greg Lukianoff said.
"Universities should serve as the ultimate free speech zones for our
society. We are encouraged, though, that the percentage of public universities
that maintain unconstitutional codes is slowly shrinking."
FIRE's
fourth annual report is the largest and most comprehensive effort to date both
to quantify the proportion of colleges and universities that restrict free
speech and to assess the severity of those restrictions. The report surveys
publicly available policies at institutions ranked in the 100 "Best
National Universities" and at the 50 "Best Liberal Arts
Colleges," as rated in the 2008 "
America's Best Colleges" issue
of U.S. News & World Report. FIRE also researched codes at more than
200 additional major public institutions. The research was conducted between
September 2008 and September 2009.
All of the policies cited in the report are accessible online in FIRE's
searchable speech code database, Spotlight:
The Campus Freedom Resource. People interested in drawing
attention to their institution's policies can easily do so by adding FIRE's
Speech Code Widget to their blog or website. Easy instructions for adding the
widget are located here.
Some of the
most outrageous speech codes this year include:
- State University of New York at Brockport bans all uses of e-mail that "inconvenience[s] others," including "offensive language or graphics (whether or not the receiver objects, since others may come in contact with it)."
- New York University explicitly prohibits "insulting," "teasing," and even "inappropriate jokes" when they are based on a legally protected status such as race, gender, or religion.
- San Jose State University bans "[a]ny form of activity, whether covert or overt, that creates a significantly uncomfortable ... environment" in the dorms, which includes making "verbal remarks" and "publicly telling offensive jokes."
Spotlight
on Speech Codes 2010: The State of Free Speech on Our Nation's Campuses also discusses the emerging trend
of universities stifling open debate on campus by charging student groups
onerous and often unconstitutional security fees for bringing controversial
speakers to campus. Such incidents have occurred in the last few years at University
of California at Berkeley, University
of Massachusetts Amherst, University
of Colorado at Boulder, University of Arizona,
and elsewhere.
Many of the
speech codes at public universities are unconstitutional and likely would not
survive legal challenge. FIRE's Speech
Code Litigation Project has already led to the demise of
similar codes at Citrus College (California), San
Francisco State University, Shippensburg University
(Pennsylvania), SUNY-Brockport, Texas Tech
University, and Temple University.
FIRE's report offers several potential solutions to the problem of speech
codes. In addition, in November FIRE published Correcting Common Mistakes in Campus Speech Policies,
a practical guide for university administrators seeking to protect freedom of
expression on their campuses.
"Thanks
in large part to FIRE's work, the percentage of universities maintaining
unconstitutional speech codes has decreased for the second year in a row, which
is heartening," said Will Creeley, FIRE's Director of Legal and Public
Advocacy. "But it remains completely unacceptable that the vast majority
of campuses restrict student speech, betraying the university's role as the
ultimate marketplace of ideas. FIRE will work to eliminate speech codes until
no unconstitutional and illiberal policies remain."
FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil
liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across
the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, freedom
of expression, academic freedom, due process, and rights of conscience at our
nation's colleges and universities. FIRE's efforts to preserve liberty on
campuses across
America
can be viewed at thefire.org.
CONTACT:
Will Creeley, Director of Legal and Public Advocacy, FIRE: 212-582-3191; will@thefire.org
—
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