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April 7, 2010
Duke University has instituted a new "sexual misconduct" policy that can render a student guilty of non-consensual sex simply because he or she is considered "powerful" on campus. The policy claims that "perceived power differentials may create an unintentional atmosphere of coercion." Duke's new policy transforms students of both sexes into unwitting rapists simply because of the "atmosphere" or because one or more students are "intoxicated," no matter the degree. The policy also establishes unfair rules for judging sexual misconduct accusations. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is challenging the policy.
Join FIRE's fight for student rights at Duke here >>
March 29, 2010
Duke University's Women's Center has canceled an event about motherhood because the sponsor was engaging in pro-life expression elsewhere on campus. A Women's Center representative told Duke Students for Life (DSFL) that "we have a problem" and an ideological "conflict" with the event, which was supposedly canceled to protect Duke women from encountering the event during the group's "traumatizing" pro-life "Week for Life." The group's president has turned to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help.
"Duke appears to have an unwritten but officially enforced stance regarding abortion that has resulted in pro-life groups being shut out of the Women's Center," said FIRE Vice President Robert Shibley. "This treatment is a deeply hypocritical violation of the Women's Center's promise that it 'welcomes discordant viewpoints from varied experiences.'"
Update: March 30, 2010
Duke University has reversed a decision by its Women's Center that prohibited the Duke Students for Life (DSFL) student group from holding a discussion on student motherhood at a Women's Center venue during the group's "Week for Life" event. The group's president turned to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help. Only hours after FIRE exposed Duke's decision to public scrutiny yesterday, Women's Center Director Ada Gregory wrote to the group to say that "mistakes were certainly made that should not have occurred" and that she had "taken steps to ensure that such an incident will not happen again."
Read FIRE's victory press release »
March 24, 2010
For the second time in two years, the University of Chicago has censored a student’s post on a private Facebook page. Undergraduate Joseph “Tex” Dozier posted a joke that he had had a nightmare about assassinating University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer “for a secret Israeli organization.” Mearsheimer is co-author of the controversial book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. This post prompted an investigator from the university’s police department to question Dozier about his political views, suggest that he would investigate Dozier’s comments on his university radio show, and demand that Dozier remove the post or else have the post reported to Mearsheimer, one of his professors. Dozier came to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help.
Demand that University of Chicago respect students' rights »
February 23, 2010
In a victory for freedom of the press on campus, the student government of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) voted last night to end an ongoing moratorium on funding for student media. The vote restores funding for student media organizations and makes no changes to the current policy governing student media.
Demand that UCSD protect free speech »
September 15, 2009
The abuse of campus sexual harassment policies to punish dissenting professors has hit a new low at East Georgia College (EGC). Professor Thomas Thibeault made the mistake of pointing out-at a sexual harassment training seminar-that the school's sexual harassment policy contained no protection for the falsely accused. Two days later, in a Kafkaesque irony, Thibeault was fired by EGC President John Bryant Black for sexual harassment without notice, without knowing his accuser or the charges against him, and without a hearing. Thibeault turned to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help.
Demand that Professor Thibeault be immediately reinstated »
June 11, 2009
Bucknell has repeatedly shut down controversial events by the Bucknell University Conservatives Club and has responded to FIRE's public criticism by hiding behind flimsy excuses. Tell Bucknell to stop inventing excuses and allow its students to enjoy the free speech right to which they have been explicitly promised.
Demand that Bucknell respect the rights of all its students »
June 2, 2009
Contact Community College of Allegheny County President Alex Johnson and Allegheny County Solicitor Mike Adams and demand that they put an end to the unconstiutional policies that have barred one of their students from starting a gun-rights club on campus.
Update: October 2, 2009
After months of national media attention, a student threatened with punishment for attempting to form a gun-rights group at Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) is finally allowed to distribute pamphlets about the group on campus. The college has also rescinded its unconstitutional policy demanding "prior written approval" for "personal contact with individuals or groups related to non-sponsored college material or events." After Christine Brashier, who wanted to form a chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), was told that her pamphlets were unacceptable "solicitation" and that any further efforts would be considered "academic misconduct," she turned to FIRE for help.
Read our victory press release »
August 20, 2009
This summer, FIRE has seen the California Education Code repeatedly abused as California schools have made unconstitutional threats against the owners of private websites and e-mail accounts that make use of the schools' names or initials. At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the administration has threatened Tom Wilde, a former UCLA graduate student and owner of the website ucla-weeding101.info, with legal action and criminal sanctions for using the initials "UCLA," despite the fact that the code does not prohibit such private, non-commercial websites and Wilde's site makes explicit that the site is not endorsed by the university.
Update: August 21, 2009
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has withdrawn its unconstitutional demand that a former student to take down a website criticizing the university. Former UCLA graduate student Tom Wilde received the demand regarding his private, non-commercial website, ucla-weeding101.info, last Monday. Yesterday, only a few hours after the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) publicized Wilde's case, UCLA informed FIRE that its demands to Wilde were being withdrawn.
Read our victory press release »
April 16, 2009
Following a rash of violations of free speech at University of Massachusetts Amherst, the university has an opportunity to restore its tarnished reputation. Tell Chancellor Holub to investigate the theft of The Minuteman newspaper and to overrule a recent student government resolution which demands a coerced apology from the newspaper's publishers in order to avoid being derecognized. Also, write to SGA Senate Speaker Shaun Robinson and demand that he respect the free speech rights of the students he represents and to follow the SGA's own rules. Help us encourage him to withdraw the ill-conceived Senate resolution.
Update: April 23, 2009
Under pressure from FIRE, University of Massachusetts Amherst has rejected the student government's official censorship of The Minuteman, a conservative campus newspaper that mocked a student government official. In addition, FIRE has learned that UMass Amherst has held accountable at least one of the people who stole copies of The Minuteman out of the hands of a student while a campus police officer watched and did nothing.
Read our victory press release »
April 6, 2009
After being alerted to mandatory “diversity” requirements for faculty tenure, promotion, and personal development, the Board of Visitors at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) has agreed to fully review the school’s tenure and diversity policies. Please thank the Board for agreeing to review the policies and encourage both the Board and President Steger to abandon the restrictive promotion and tenure guidelines and to respect the First Amendment.
Update: April 14, 2009
The president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) has announced that proposed new guidelines for faculty assessment, which would have mandated reporting of "diversity" activities in violation of academic freedom and freedom of conscience, are no longer under consideration. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) had called on President Charles W. Steger to rescind the proposed guidelines after a tenure-track faculty member came to FIRE for help.
Read our victory press release »
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East Georgia College Flouts Fundamental Rights
Conservative Student Group Silenced at Bucknell
