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‘Harassment’ rules threaten free speech

January 9, 2012 By

“Overly broad harassment codes remain the weapon of choice on campus to punish speech that administrators dislike,” writes Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, in the Washington Post op-ed.

In a decade fighting campus censorship, I have seen harassment defined as expressions as mild as “inappropriately directed laughter” and used to police students for references to a student government candidate as a “jerk and a fool” (at the University of Central Florida in 2006) and a factually verifiable if unflattering piece on Islamic extremism in a conservative student magazine (at Tufts University in 2007). Other examples abound. Worryingly, such broad codes and heavy-handed enforcement are teaching a generation of students that it may be safer to keep their mouths shut when important or controversial issues arise. Such illiberal lessons on how to live in a free society are poison to freewheeling debate and thought experimentation and, therefore, to the innovative thinking that both higher education and our democracy need.

In April, the Office of Civil Rights told colleges to use “the lowest possible standard of evidence” in sexual harassment and assault cases, Lukianoff writes. “The letter makes no mention of the First Amendment or free speech.”

In the 1999 case Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court defined harassment as discriminatory conduct, directed at an individual, that is “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive” that “victim-students are effectively denied equal access to an institution’s resources and opportunities.” FIRE and other groups want OCR to adopt the Davis definition of harassment.

 

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Warning: Idiocy at UW-Stout

September 29, 2011 By

A professor’s posters that call for fighting fair and warn of fascism aren’t protected by free-speech rights, claims the chancellor of University of Wisconsin-Stout (UWS).

James Miller, a theater professor, started with a poster featuring a line from the TV series Firefly. The sci-fi space pilot played by Nathan Fillion says: “You don’t know me, son, so let me explain this to you once: If I ever kill you, you’ll be awake. You’ll be facing me. And you’ll be armed.” 

A literate person would read the message: I fight fair.

Campus police removed the poster because it “refer[s] to killing” and “can be interpreted as a threat,”  reports Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). When Miller asked for respect for his First Amendment rights, the police chief responded: “If you choose to repost the article or something similar to it, it will be removed and you could face charges of disorderly conduct.”

Miller put up a “Warning: Fascism” poster. “Fascism can cause blunt head trauma and/or violent death. Keep fascism away from children and pets.”

A literate person would read the message: Fascism is bad because it leads to violence, which is bad.

Campus police removed it because it “depicts violence and mentions violence and death” and could “be constituted as a threat,” according to the university’s “threat assessment team.”

Despite FIRE’s publicity campaign, which lead to a wave of ridicule, Chancellor Charles Sorensen, Provost Julie Furst-Bowe and Vice Chancellor Ed Nieskes defended censorship in an e-mail to faculty and staff, claiming the posters “constituted an implied threat of violence.”

This was not an act of censorship.  This was an act of sensitivity to and care for our shared community, and was intended to maintain a campus climate in which everyone can feel welcome, safe and secure.

Everyone can feel welcome, safe and secure except for people who like to express their opinions.

The university administration’s idiocy boggles the mind.

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FIRE: Anti-bullying law restricts free speech

November 24, 2010 By

Congress is considering an anti-bullying bill that “gravely threatens free speech,” argues the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).  The bill is named for Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers student who killed himself after his sexual encounter with a male student in his dorm room was filmed and put online.

“Tyler Clementi was subjected to an unconscionable violation of privacy, but that conduct was already criminal and prohibited by every college in America,” FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. “For decades, colleges have used vague, broad harassment codes to silence even the most innocuous speech on campus. The proposed law requires universities to police even more student speech under a hopelessly vague standard that will be a disaster for open debate and discourse on campus. And all this in response to student behavior that was already illegal.”

Balancing free-speech rights with the desire to protect students from abuse, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that harassment can be banned only if it is “severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive.” The bill removes the requirement that the behavior be objectively offensive.

The loss of this crucial “reasonable person” standard means that those most interested in silencing viewpoints they don’t like will effectively determine what speech should be banned from campus. Unconstitutional definitions of “harassment” have already provided the most commonly abused rationale justifying censorship, having been applied to a student magazine at Tufts University that published true if unflattering facts about Islam, a Brandeis professor who used an epithet in order to explain its origins and condemn its use as a slur, and even a student at an Indiana college simply for publicly reading a book.

Clementi’s roommate and an alleged accomplice are facing criminal charges for invasion of privacy.

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No free speech in college zones

August 6, 2010 By

On Community College Spotlight:  Front Range Community College in Colorado, which limits the right to expression even in “free speech zones,” wins the un-coveted Speech Code of the Month from FIRE.

Also, Rent-A-Text cuts students’ book-buying costs (not counting resale of used books).

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No sex for Duke Devils

April 7, 2010 By

The Duke Blue Devils had better remain chaste. As national champions, they are unable to have consensual sex with other students under Duke’s new “sexual misconduct” policy, warns the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). A person seen as “powerful” — such as a varsity athlete — may “create an unintentional atmosphere of coercion,” the policy states. For the “powerful,” it’s not just that “no” means no and silence means no. “Yes” means no too.

In addition, sex with someone who’s been drinking — not like that ever happens — is considered a form of rape because the policy considers any level of intoxication makes a student unable to consent to sex. FIRE, which is challenging the policy, writes:

Duke’s new policy transforms students of both sexes into unwitting rapists simply because of the “atmosphere” or because one or more students are “intoxicated,” no matter the degree. The policy also establishes unfair rules for judging sexual misconduct accusations.

Even a couple who’ve engaged in consensual sex need explicit permission for every sexual act every time.

The policy will be impossible to enforce fairly or equitably, said Adam Kissel, Director of FIRE’s Individual Rights Defense Program. “As a result, this policy effectively trivializes real sexual misconduct, which is a gravely serious crime.”

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U-Minn backs down on teacher ed plan

December 23, 2009 By

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities has promised not to enforce a “political litmus test for future teachers,” FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights) proclaims.

The College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) is redesigning admissions and the curriculum to focus on “cultural competence.”

. . . The proposal, initiated by the college’s Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group, sought to require each future teacher to accept theories of “white privilege, hegemonic masculinity, heteronormativity, and internalized oppression”; “develop a positive sense of racial/cultural identity”; and “recognize that schools are socially constructed systems that are susceptible to racism … but are also critical sites for social and cultural transformation.” They were to be judged by their scores on the Intercultural Development Inventory, a test of “Intercultural Sensitivity.” In one assignment, they were to reveal a “pervasive stereotype” they personally held and then demonstrate how their experiences had “challenged” it. They also were to be assessed regarding “the extent to which they find intrinsic satisfaction” in being in “culturally diverse situations.”

In response to a letter from FIRE, General Counsel Mark B. Rotenberg promised that “[n]o University policy or practice ever will mandate any particular beliefs, or screen out people with ‘wrong beliefs’ from the University.”

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71% of colleges restrict free speech

December 10, 2009 By

Fewer colleges systematically violate students’ and professors’ free speech rights, concludes the  2010 report from Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).  However, “71 percent of the 375 campuses analyzed still maintain codes that grant students less freedom of speech than they enjoy off campus.”

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College retracts sex harassment charges

November 6, 2009 By

When he criticized East Georgia College’s sexual harassment policy for offering no protection to the falsely accused, Professor Thomas Thibeault was accused of sexual harassment himself and escorted off campus by police. No specifics were provided. Now, under pressure from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the college has withdrawn the harassment charge for lack of evidence, but reprimanded the professor for “offensive speech.” Once again, Thibeault hasn’t been told who accused him or what he’s supposed to have done. FIRE remains on the case.

FIRE is celebrating its 10th birthday.

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Dave Barry on campus correctness

August 1, 2009 By

The most “intellectually constipated” place in America? College campuses have let the spurious right not to be offended trump free speech says humor columnist Dave Barry on a FIRE video.

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‘Cowboy up,’ campus conservatives

February 5, 2009 By

Stop whining and “cowboy  up,” David French tells campus conservatives and Christians, who complain that they’re “silenced” or “afraid” to express their views.  Students complain they’ll be ridiculed by their professors or attacked by their classmates if they speak up. French, formerly of FIRE and now director of the Alliance Defense Fund’s Center for Academic Freedom, tells students not to complain unless they’re facing real censorship.

. . .  here is what these folks are really saying: “There are many things that I value far more than my conservative (or, sadly, Christian) principles, including the regard of all my peers, the ease of my academic career, and feeling welcome and accepted during the Thursday-Sunday party circuit. Please change the university so that I can speak my mind without any cost or consequence.”

I have two words for these people: Cowboy up. . . . If you are afraid professors won’t grade you fairly, put them to the test and respond appropriately if their bias manifests itself (you’ll be surprised how well you might do). If you don’t think people will like you, grow a thicker skin and see what happens. I still have dear lefty friends from my law school days, and I never pulled any punches in my conversations with them (and still don’t). But, above all. Stop whining. Please.

Nobody has the right not to be offended, writes Erin O’Connor at Critical Mass.

Yes!

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