As those of you who read my blog yesterday know, Eugene invited me to be a guest contributor to The Volokh Conspiracy this week in order to discuss some of the issues raised in my recently released book, Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate. Yesterday, I described the negative impact that suppressing […]
Archive | Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
Free Speech on Campus & ‘Unlearning Liberty’
By Greg Lukianoff, guest-blogging on October 29, 2012 10:00 am in First Amendment, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
Thank you to Eugene for inviting me to guest blog on The Volokh Conspiracy this week. By way of introduction, I am a First Amendment lawyer and the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), and my new book, Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate, hit the bookshelves […]
Greg Lukianoff Guest-Blogging
I’m delighted to report that Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education — one of my favorite public policy advocacy groups — will be guest-blogging this week about his new book, Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate. Here’s the book description: For over a generation, shocking cases […]
Quite the Speech Code
By Eugene Volokh on October 8, 2012 4:23 pm in "Hate Speech", Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month, from SUNY – New Paltz: This policy applies to all members of the campus community, individuals doing business with the campus, any person utilizing campus facilities. This will include SUNY New Paltz’s campus, any off-site facilities, and work-related travel…. Examples of Prohibited Conduct … Distribution, display or discussion of […]
English University Student Government Excludes Atheist Group from Freshmen’s Fair for Blasphemy
By Eugene Volokh on October 8, 2012 3:10 pm in Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
Here’s the atheist group’s statement about the incident, which seems consistent with a Daily Mail (UK) account and with a statement from the student union (quoted in the article): Today, the Reading University Atheist, Humanist, and Secularist Society (RAHS) participated in the Freshers’ [i.e. Freshmen’s -EV] Fayre organised by Reading University Students’ Union (RUSU). We […]
“University of California Jewish Student Campus Climate Fact-Finding Team” Calls for Banning “Hate Speech”
By Eugene Volokh on August 11, 2012 1:52 pm in "Hate Speech", Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
Fortunately, it appears that UC President Mark Yudof — a noted First Amendment scholar — is not going along with this. Here’s the relevant passage, which the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education rightly condemns: 2) UC should adopt a hate speech-free campus policy. While many campuses have adopted hate-free campaigns or issued commitments affirming […]
University of Delaware Students Barred from “Ridiculing” with the Intent of “Excluding or Degrading a Person”
From the Code of Conduct ban on “bullying”: 1. Statement of Policy A student shall not impair, interfere with, or obstruct the orderly conduct, process, or function of the University or any of its students, faculty members, University officials, guests or the surrounding community. 2. Prohibited Activities Specific violations of this standard include, but are […]
“Call Me Irresponsible, Call Me Unreliable, Throw in Undependable Too”
I blogged about Turkish Coalition of America, Inc. v. Bruininks (8th Cir. May 3, 2012) when the district court decision came down, and yesterday the Eighth Circuit agreed with the district court’s bottom line (though disagreed with the district court’s decision about standing). I think the District Court and the Eighth Circuit both got it […]
Should Colleges Punish “Cyber-Bullying” by Their Students?
By Eugene Volokh on April 16, 2012 3:33 pm in "Bullying" Bans, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
So argue two lawyers in a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article, warning of legal liability if colleges don’t take suitable steps to suppress such speech. The article is short on definitions of cyber-bullying, but calls for colleges to update their “anti-bullying and social-media policies to take into account the immediate and significant harm that […]
Penn Law School Rejects Louis Vuitton Nastygram
By Eugene Volokh on March 3, 2012 2:44 pm in Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities, Trademark
A Penn student organization put on a fashion law symposium, and created the following poster: The top part of the poster echoes the Louis Vuitton design, but with copyright and trademark symbols worked into it. You can see Louis Vuitton’s cease-and-desist letter, and the Penn Office of General Counsel we-won’t-case-or-desist response. The Penn response strikes […]
FCC Standards Come to Arizona Classrooms
By Eugene Volokh on February 15, 2012 5:58 pm in Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities, Freedom of Speech at K-12 Schools
Here’s a bill currently being considered by the Arizona Legislature: A. If a person who provides classroom instruction in a public school engages in speech or conduct that would violate the standards adopted by the federal communications commission concerning obscenity, indecency and profanity if that speech or conduct were broadcast on television or radio: 1. […]
Neal Gaiman + FIRE + Firefly + Campus Free Speech, All Together
A Foundation for Individual Rights in Education video, about the now-notorious University of Wisconsin-Stout Firefly poster incident: Here’s a brief summary of the incident from FIRE: On September 12, 2011, Professor Miller [UPDATE: who is a professor of theater] posted on his office door an image of Nathan Fillion in Firefly and a line from […]
Lawsuit Claiming University of Iowa College of Law Discriminated Against Republican Teaching Applicant
By Eugene Volokh on December 28, 2011 4:56 pm in Freedom of Association, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
Ilya blogged about this lawsuit when it was filed, so I thought I’d note that today the Eighth Circuit allowed the lawsuit to go forward, “revers[ing] the district court’s grant of summary judgment based on qualified immunity.” Naturally, this is not a finding that the law school did indeed discriminate, only that a jury should […]
“Hiring [a Lecturer] Stridently Opposed to Gay Rights Goes Against the [University’s] Ethic of Nondiscrimination”
By Eugene Volokh on December 15, 2011 3:57 pm in Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities, Same-Sex Marriage
That’s what one Hamline University business school professor said, in opposing the hiring of another prospective business school professor, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press: A Hamline University professor said Wednesday that hiring [former Republican gubernatorial candidate] Tom Emmer would have been a bad business decision for the school, while Emmer said “political bigotry” […]
“Arresting [Koran-Burning Pastor Terry] Jones Would Have Been an Option Had He Come on Campus”
From today’s L.A. Times: Campus police said they asked the Rev. Terry Jones not to come on campus after receiving information about suspicious activity associated with the visit that raised safety concerns. Several areas on campus, including Aldrich Hall where the university’s administration is housed, were closed. Jones, who threatened to burn the Koran on […]