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October 30, 2003

New FIRE site on speech codes

Here's a fine new site by FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education)on campus speech codes. According to FIRE:

Speech codes are, unfortunately, the rule rather than the exception in higher education, and they include bans on "offensive speech" and "intolerant expression." Often, they are inserted into "verbal conduct" sections of "harassment policies," with the goal of suppressing "hostile" viewpoints and words. Because these codes are so overbroad that even mildly controversial speech can be punished under them, they have frequently been used to silence students and faculty on all parts of the political spectrum.

For example, Bard College in New York forbids "conduct that deliberately causes embarrassment, discomfort, or injury to other individuals or to the community as a whole," ignoring the fact that in any debate, parties on one side will feel "discomfort" when their views are challenged. Similarly, Penn State asserts that "acts that show contempt" on the basis of "political belief" may be forbidden.
via Joanne Jacobs' fine edublog

Posted by Kevin Murphy at October 30, 2003 11:19 AM | TrackBack