The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has reported today that the efforts of student activists have resulted in The College of William and Mary repealing much of its speech code. Previously, William and Mary had classified many forms of speech as illegal on campus (whether from student or professor), which would be considered constitutionally protected in any court. Details of these policies may be found in FIRE’s report.
Most speech codes, of course, are well intentioned: to keep help students “feel comfortable” in their learning environment. In practice, however, such codes frequently have resulted in repression of minority ideologies. Examples can be found across the ideological spectrum; Speech Codes are damaging to all ideologies, and not simply “conservative” viewpoints, as is often assumed in the blog-o-sphere. Indeed, FIRE was founded by center-left Democrats.
Like William and Mary of previous years, Brown has extremely troubling and comprehensive speech codes. As I will argue at greater length in future postings, the dangers of these speech codes are compounded by the University’s non-transparent disciplinary system. This creates a chilling environment for free expression at Brown, and has resulted in numerous questionable rulings against Brown students.
Information about Brown University’s speech codes, which have earned the University a “red light” rating from FIRE, may also be found on FIRE’s website.
William and Mary repeals speech code
http://www.thefire.org/article/11170.html
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has reported today that the efforts of student activists have resulted in William and Mary’s repealing its speech code. Previously, William and Mary had classified many forms of speech, which would be considered constitutionally protected in any court, as illegal on William and Mary’s campus (whether from faculty or from students).
Most speech codes are well intentioned: to keep help students to feel “comfortable” in their learning environment. In practice, however, such codes frequently have resulted in repression of minority ideologies. Examples can be found across the ideological spectrum; Speech Codes are damaging to all ideologies, and not simply “conservative” viewpoints, as is often assumed. (Indeed, FIRE was founded by center-left Democrats.)
Like William and Mary of previous years, Brown has extremely troubling and comprehensive speech codes, which are detailed here. As I will argue at greater length in future postings, the dangers of these speech codes are compounded by the University’s non-transparent disciplinary system. This creates a chilling environment for free expression at Brown, and has resulted in numerous questionable expulsions of Brown students.
Information about Brown University’s speech codes, which have earned the University a “red light” rating from FIRE, may be found here: http://www.thefire.org/spotlight/codes/2483.html.
