Monday, December 22, 2008

A recent report from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) revealed the shocking statistic that 74% of colleges and universities examined in a national survey were found to have policies that violate the First Amendment protection to freedom of speech.

These unconstitutional policies typically take the form of speech codes restricting what the universities view as harassing or intolerant speech. Pennsylvania State University, for example, prohibits its students from “engage[ing] in any behaviors that compromise or demean the dignity of individuals or groups.” Some campuses go further, restricting not only free speech but free thought as well. Consider the case of Texas Southern University where the speech code forbids not only “remarks” but also “assumptions” and “implications” which cause “emotional, mental, physical or verbal harm to another person.” At the University of Virginia and the University of Missouri, students are encouraged, secret-police style, to report each other’s “biases” to school authorities.  Full Piece