| Censored? Five Steps to Fighting Back |
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When faced with an attack on your rights: 01 Take careful notes of conversations and keep copies of all written correspondence with university officials, whether administrators, faculty members, or student leaders. Whenever you want to create reliable records of verbal communications, it is important to put your version of the conversation in a letter to the administrator (or faculty member or student leader) with whom you spoke. Indicate within that letter that you want to “confirm” the contents of your communication. Such a letter communicates that you are serious about protecting your rights, and it often results in the other party creating a written record that they cannot later refute. 02 Follow all the appropriate appeal procedures if you are already facing punishment and carefully read your student handbook, disciplinary code, and other policies applicable to you or your organization. When you read such policies, take great care to identify the specific decision makers who have the authority to decide your case. Knowledge is power. You can win a free speech dispute simply through a superior understanding of campus rules and procedures. 03 Read the appropriate sections of FIRE’s Guides to Student Rights (available for free download; hard copies free upon request). 04 Build a coalition—contact other students or student groups that may suffer from the same policies or actions or who share your values. Consider the pros and cons of contacting the student newspaper and other campus publications about your case. When informed by FIRE’s Guides to Student Rights, armed with the information applicable to your unique situation, and allied with the committed advocates at FIRE, you will no longer be helpless or alone. Time and again, courageous students who have taken these steps have turned the tide against censorship and have restored liberty to their university communities. |
