Tag: First Amendment

Campus Climate

In the Face of Hate, Public Universities Struggle to Balance Inclusivity, Free Speech

With students and faculty posting heated — and in some cases, racist — reactions to current events on social media, universities find themselves in a legal minefield as they navigate First Amendment rights and the educational ideals of tolerance and respect.

June 23, 2020

News Roundup

Betsy DeVos Proposes Plan to Ensure Equal Treatment of Faith-Based Institutions and Religious Organizations

United States Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced a five-part plan to ensure the equal treatment of religious organizations and faith-based institutions. The proposal will implement President Donald J. Trump’s “Executive Order on the Establishment of a White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative” which guarantees equal treatment for both religious and non-religious organizations under the […]

January 16, 2020

Latest News

FIRE Report Examines Free Speech on College Campuses

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has released its annual report on institutional policies that can restrict student expression.

December 5, 2019

News Roundup

IU Professor Keeps Job After Racist, Sexist and Homophobic Tweets Revealed

Despite using his social media account to express racist, sexist and homophobic opinions, Indiana University (IU) professor of business economics and public policy Dr. Eric B. Rasmusen will not be fired. In a letter to the Kelley School of Business, Dr. Lauren Robel, executive vice president and provost at IU wrote, “we cannot, nor would […]

November 22, 2019

News Roundup

Radford University Disciplines Employee Responsible for Stolen Student Newspapers

Radford University has internally disciplined a “classified staff employee” responsible for swiping some of the 1,000 missing copies of the university’s student-run newspaper The Tartan in September. The university has not identified the worker’s name, but Chief of Police David Underwood stated in a letter that the worker will not be charged criminally. In the […]

November 11, 2019

Home

Halloween, a Season for Racist Costumes

The season for trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns and watching horror movies has arrived. Halloween will inevitably mean trouble on college campuses as many students will choose to dress in culturally offensive costumes at parties over the new two weeks

October 18, 2019

Students

CSU Students Outraged After Lack of University Response Following Racist Social Media Post

Colorado State University (CSU) students seek reform on campus after the school’s lack of response to a racist photo on social media. Four CSU students posted an Instagram story in blackface and referenced the Marvel movie Black Panther with the caption “Wakanda forevaa,” 9News reported. Though CSU condemned the post, the school claimed the incident […]

September 16, 2019

News Roundup

Rutgers Under Criticism for Defunding Student Newspaper

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has called on Rutgers University to restore funding to The Daily Targum and reform its “unconstitutional funding policy” after a referendum vote stripped the student newspaper of its funding. FIRE officials cited four ways in which the university violated students’ rights, singling out the referendum vote that […]

June 4, 2019

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Executive Order’s Free-Speech Provisions Draw Criticism

President Donald J. Trump’s signing of a controversial executive order Thursday was met with immediate criticism from areas of higher education, particularly aspects intended to address a perception that some schools are intolerant of conservative political views.

March 21, 2019

Campus Climate

A Black Graduate Student’s Perspective on University Speech Codes

I believe that universities should deliberately create a community culture that maintains the safety and dignity of all of their students. This includes the creation of policies that appropriately manage hate speech and related behaviors. Many universities employ speech codes to serve this purpose.

February 12, 2019

Opinion

When Hate Speech and Free Speech Collide

Hundreds of hate incidents have taken place on college campuses over the past two years, from nooses hung on trees to a 77 percent increase in White supremacist propaganda during the 2017-18 school year. Anti-Semitic acts have seen a particular surge in the past month, as swastikas have been carved in pumpkins, stamped in the snow, and painted on a Jewish professor’s office walls, to name just a few examples.

December 5, 2018

Opinion

Is There a Limit to Academic Freedom?

While everyone is entitled to his own views, no one is allowed to act upon them when they harm others. This tolerance should be modeled and developed on college campuses, as young people are shaping their views and learning to interact with others from diverse backgrounds in ways that will inform their future.

November 7, 2018