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University of Toledo: Police Enforce Unwritten Policy to Censor Political Protesters
August 20, 2015
Category: Free SpeechOn September 15, 2014, former presidential advisor Karl Rove spoke at UT as part of a university-sponsored lecture series, which was free and open to the public. A group of students and community members aimed to peacefully protest Rove’s appearance and prior involvement in President George W. Bush’s foreign policy by distributing literature outside the lecture venue and carrying signs of protest. Campus police, however, prevented from entering the event with their signs despite the students’ assurances that they would not be disruptive to other attendees and repeatedly failed to cite any UT policy justifying their censorship of the students’ protest. FIRE wrote to UT regarding its unconstitutional censorship of the protesters’ activity on October 10, 2014, having been alerted to the incident by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). In response, UT worked with the organizations to craft a new “Expression on Campus” policy, which took effect June 1, 2015, and includes protections for students’ right to peaceful protest and demonstration.
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Rowan College at Gloucester County: Professor Fired After Student Complaints Over Classroom Language and Course Content
August 12, 2015
Category: Due Process, Free SpeechSociology professor Dawn Tawwater assumed a new position as a tenure-track professor at Rowan College at Gloucester County in September 2014, teaching five course sections. Within weeks of beginning her teaching, however, Tawwater was the subject of four student complaints regarding, among other matters, her occasional use of profanity in the classroom and her screening of a racy feminist parody of the music video for the Robin Thicke song “Blurred Lines.” At an October 6 hearing Rowan attempted to force Tawwater to sign a “Last Chance Agreement” requiring that she “refrain from using indecent language in the classroom” and apologize […]
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Texas Christian University: Student Suspended for Social Media Posts
July 29, 2015
Category: Free SpeechOn May 8, 2015, Texas Christian University (TCU) suspended student Harry Vincent for commentary posted to his personal Facebook and Twitter profiles related to current events, including unrest in Baltimore and the rise of the “Islamic State.” The suspension came after a non-student apparently living in Maryland created a post on her Tumblr page containing screenshots of several of Vincent’s posts, labeling them “racist” and “disgusting,” and asking readers to contact TCU to report his speech. As part of its sanctions, TCU banned Vincent from participating in any co-curricular activities on campus and utilizing any non-academic campus facilities, and it […]
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Oakton Community College: Faculty Member Sent Cease-and-Desist Letter for “May Day” Email
July 16, 2015
Category: Free SpeechOn May 7, 2015, a lawyer representing Oakton Community College (OCC) sent a cease-and-desist letter to a member of the college faculty after the faculty member sent a one-sentence email to several colleagues noting that “May Day” is a time “when workers across the world celebrate their struggle for union rights and remember the Haymarket riot in Chicago.” The college argued that lecturer Chester Kulis’s reference to the Haymarket Riot was threatening to the college president because she was a recipient of the email and the famous workers’ rally “resulted in 11 deaths and more than 70 people injured.” OCC’s […]
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Crafton Hills College: Content Warning on Graphic Novel Coursework
July 9, 2015
Category: Free SpeechIn the Spring 2015 semester at Crafton Hills College, a student and her parents objected to the violent and sexual content in several works in an English course on graphic novels, including Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll’s House.
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Northwestern University: Censorship of Faculty-Produced Bioethics Journal with “Bad Girls” Theme
June 16, 2015
Category: Free SpeechAdministrators at Northwestern University censored a publication because it published an issue with a “Bad Girls” theme deemed too salacious for the school’s image.
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House Judiciary Committee Hearing on “First Amendment Protections on Public College and University Campuses”
June 2, 2015
Category: Free SpeechOn June 2, 2015, FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff addressed the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice on the state of free speech on America’s public college campuses. Lukianoff was joined by attorney and author Wendy Kaminer; Kim Colby, Director of the Christian Legal Society’s Center for Law and Religious Freedom; and Professor Jamie Raskin of American University Washington College of Law.
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Blinn College – Stand Up For Speech Lawsuit
May 20, 2015
Category: Free SpeechAn administrator told Nicole Sanders that she would need “special permission” to display a gun rights sign and collect signatures for her student group on campus.
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George Washington University: Jewish Student Suspended for Displaying Souvenir Indian Swastika
April 28, 2015
Category: Free SpeechGeorge Washington U. suspended a student, temporarily evicted him from university housing, and banned him from campus because he posted a small souvenir swastika from India on his residence hall’s bulletin board.
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St. Charles Community College: Adjunct Faculty Barred from Gathering Petition Signatures
April 20, 2015
Category: Free SpeechAdministrators emailed faculty, saying adjuncts were “not permitted to ask for petition signatures.”