Video that supposedly backs up harassment charge actually exonerates her
In February we told you about Frostburg State University’s unconstitutional policy banning “offensive” language on flyers posted in residence halls.
The taxpayer-funded institution seems to have a recurring problem with things that happen in residence halls, at least when they get noticed outside its far western corner of Maryland.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has been on FSU’s case for the past month, starting with its directive to penalize resident assistants for talking to the media about the university’s response to COVID-19.
Next the university went after a student journalist
Ohio bans restrictive college free speech zones, enhances protections for student expression by FIRE December 21, 2020
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 21 On Friday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law
SB 40, which codifies important free speech protections for students at Ohio’s public colleges and universities. The bill:
Prohibits Ohio public institutions of higher education from quarantining student expression into small, misleadingly labeled “
free speech zones” and establishes outdoor areas of campus as public forums for campus communities;
Adopts the speech-protective definition of student-on-student harassment set forth by the Supreme Court of the United States’ holding in
Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, which defined student-on-student harassment as conduct that is “so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive” that it effectively bars a student-victim from receiving equal access to educational opportunities or benefits; and
Cambridge University Just Delivered A Clear Victory For Free Speech
December 21, 2020
College campuses have recently become a major battleground for free speech. For a while, however, it seemed advocates for censoring speeches and canceling speakers were winning.
Just last week, professor Joseph Epstein, currently a lecturer at Northwestern University, was effectively canceled by the university after he wrote an op-ed criticizing Jill Biden, wife of Joe Biden, for insisting on using the honorific “Dr.” in front of her name because she has a Ph.D. in education.
Still, all is not lost for proponents of free speech. The United Kingdom’s Cambridge University just proved free speech can win even on one of the most “woke“ college campuses.
Senate Democrats loved it, House Democrats hated it
The ACLU and American Association of University Professors opposed it, but Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the legislation anyway.
Ohio is the latest state to ban so-called free speech zones at public universities, which cordon off student speech to tiny, out-of-the-way areas that may also require reservations or prior approval to use.
SB-40 also bans public institutions from charging security fees for student events based on viewpoint or anticipated reaction – a commonproblem for right-of-centerevents – and adopts the Supreme Court’s definition of student-on-student “harassment,” which is far narrower than standards often found in campus codes.
By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square
A new national survey of 478 higher education institutions in the U.S. found that 9 in 10 restrict free speech in some capacity on campus but nearly half maintain policies that “impermissibly restrict online speech.”
The study was conducted by FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of students and faculty members at American colleges and universities. These rights include freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience.
The report, Spotlight on Speech Codes 2021: The State of Free Speech on Our Nation’s Campuses, analyzed the written policies related to free speech at 478 top American colleges and universities. It found that 88 percent of those surveyed maintain policies that restrict, or could be interpreted to restrict, expression.