Democratizing Education | CENTER for CAMPUS FREE SPEECH: Update

CENTER for CAMPUS FREE SPEECH: Update

May 11, 2009

An update from the Center for Campus Free Speech

Speech code stopped
The Chancellor of the Nevada higher education system is calling on UNLV to re-write its proposed anti-bias policy. Like far too many campus policies, in attempting to curb genuine harassment and discrimination the proposed UNLV policy would also restrict quite a bit of speech that is both protected by the First Amendment and important for campus dialogue.

Red tape and unnecessary restrictions block student events
Unfortunately, while things in Nevada are looking up, students at Bucknell are fighting unnecessary restrictions that threaten to stop an awareness event about affirmative action. This week, students at Bucknell University attempted to revive the anti-affirmative action event known as the "affirmative action bake sale." Unfortunately, campus administrators are blocking the event, using multiple excuses to stop a provocative discussion of affirmative action.

Temporary reprieve in censorship of student paper
And finally, though the Chicago State University student newspaper, the Tempo, is back on newsstands, the controversy surrounding censorship of the paper is far from over. In 2008, the University helped to restart a student paper after the University's accreditation agency criticized the school for not having a student media outlet. But, as the paper became more critical of the University, administrators moved to exercise more control over the content of the paper, ultimately stopping its production and firing its advisor.