The Torch
January 16, 2007
Students at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts are much freer today than they were a year ago, thanks to a significant revision in university policy. Since being named FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month in January 2006, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts has dramatically changed its policies. This victory for free expression follows a similar turn of events just over a year ago at Albertson College of Idaho.
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January 12, 2007
Today on The Torch, FIRE President Greg Lukianoff addresses the rise of censorship cases and other administrative abuses involving social networking websites like Facebook.com. Social networking sites provide an unprecedented look into the way students actually talk to one another, which has predictably led to increased policing and punishment by college administrators. But the fact that social networking sites make this type of speech more accessible than it previously has been does not necessitate a concordant rise in monitoring and punishment. As ever, occasional offense is a small price to pay for continuing to honor the wisdom of the Bill of Rights as we navigate through this unparalleled communications revolution.
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January 8, 2007
After weeks of public pressure, Johns Hopkins University has reduced its draconian punishment of student Justin Park, who posted an “offensive” Halloween party invitation on Facebook.com. The university has concluded Park’s appeal, and he is satisfied with the outcome, but FIRE is troubled that any punishment remains. Moreover, FIRE believes that the university’s conduct throughout this case—and throughout 2006 in general—leaves serious doubts about whether students at Hopkins have even the most minimal rights to free speech and due process.
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Update: January 12, 2007, Read More About Johns Hopkins University: Student Punished for Party Invitation » The Torch
January 2, 2007
FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for January 2007: Fayetteville State University. Fayetteville State's racial harassment policy is identical to a policy that was explicitly declared unconstitutional by a federal court in 1989. If challenged in court, Fayetteville State's policy would almost certainly meet with the same fate.
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December 27, 2006
Throughout 2006, FIRE rose to the task of combating repressive policies and practices in academia. FIRE continued to promote free speech in higher education by securing crucial victories, producing vital informational materials, and initiating new programs that lay the groundwork for lasting change on campus.
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December 22, 2006
All of us at FIRE would like to wish our friends and supporters happy holidays. As universities wind down for winter break, students head home to their families, and we prepare for a restful holiday weekend, some students have plenty to celebrate. After a months-long wrongful suspension, the Reformed University Fellowship at Brown University is on the verge of becoming re-affiliated, awaiting only a Brown administrator’s signature to make the re-affiliation official. For others, like Johns Hopkins student Justin Park, whose “offensive” party invitation on Facebook.com gained him a one-year suspension, the holiday season is considerably less celebratory. Unless Hopkins takes favorable action on Park’s appeal, the eighteen-year-old junior’s suspension will begin in January. As we sit back and enjoy the holidays, we are reminded to keep Justin Park and other students like him in our thoughts.
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December 14, 2006
Today, FIRE is publicly challenging Michigan State University to dismantle its Student Accountability in Community (SAC) program. The Orwellian SAC program, which forces students whose speech or behavior is deemed unacceptable by the university to undergo ideological reeducation at their own expense, is immoral, unconstitutional, and poses a profound threat to the freedom of speech and the right of private conscience of every Michigan State student.
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Update: December 18, 2006, Read More About Michigan State University: Program of Thought Reform » Press Release
December 6, 2006
FIRE released a report today which reveals that burdensome restrictions on speech are commonplace at America’s colleges and universities. The report, entitled Spotlight on Speech Codes 2006: The State of Free Speech on Our Nation’s Campuses, surveyed more than 330 schools and found that an overwhelming majority of them explicitly prohibit speech that, outside the borders of campus, is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The report is the most comprehensive effort to date to quantify both the number of colleges and universities that restrict free speech and the severity of those restrictions.
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December 4, 2006
FIRE is calling on the University of Central Florida to repeal its unlawful and unfair “free speech zone” policy. This policy quarantines free speech at the public university to four areas covering only a small percentage of its campus. This policy has recently been used to stop at least two student organizations from holding protests, including Students for a Democratic Society and UCF Campus Peace Action.
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Update: January 24, 2007, Read More About University of Central Florida: Speech Quarantined to 'Free Assembly Areas' » Press Release
November 30, 2006
Johns Hopkins University has suspended a student for an entire year for posting Halloween party invitations that some students found offensive on Facebook.com. After the university found 18-year-old junior Justin Park guilty of failing to respect the rights of others, harassment, and intimidation, among other charges, Park sought help from FIRE.
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Update: January 12, 2007, Read More About Johns Hopkins University: Student Punished for Party Invitation » |
