Fox News, February 14, "Sexual Harassment Policies Need Reform," by Wendy McElroy [The AAUW reports] should never be a basis for law or policy. As Lukianoff observes, this is precisely what has happened. "With millions of students allegedly believing they were 'harassed' by merely rude or bawdy speech, it is no wonder that colleges and universities are inundated with frivolous harassment claims and lawsuits." · · · Rocky Mountain News, February 14, "On Point: Speak no evil," by Vincent Carroll Here's a current example from Jacksonville State University in Alabama (thanks to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education for the tip): Under "personal abuse," the university policy reads, "No student shall threaten, offend, or degrade anyone on University owned or operated property." No student shall offend anyone? Shouldn't students at least enjoy immunity while ordering lunch in case their request for a cheeseburger offends a passing vegan? · · · Cybercast News Service, February 14, "DePaul Investigates Mock Bake Sale for Possible 'Harassment'," by Nathan Burchfiel Although Shibley declined to predict the outcome of the DePaul investigation, FIRE has successfully convinced four other universities to allow affirmative action bake sales to continue. Administrators at the College of William and Mary, the University of Colorado-Boulder, Northeastern Illinois University, and the University of California-Irvine all allowed the bake sales to continue after public pressure from FIRE. · · · National Review, February 13, "The Week" With the help of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and the Center for Individual Rights, McConnell took his case to court and won, successfully arguing that his school had acted in bad faith: It had promised him freedom of expression and then expelled him when he expressed himself. · · · Newsday, February 9, "Sexual harassment commonplace on college campuses, study says," by Olivia Winslow The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit group that is based in Philadelphia and often engages in campus free-speech and academic issues, criticized the report for a definition of sexual harassment -- "unwanted and unwelcome sexual behavior that interferes with your life" -- that was "so broad that the report's conclusions are highly misleading and dangerous to free expression on campus." · · · The Stanford Review, February 6, "Stanford Review Indicted," by Ryan Tracey The distribution on January 21 followed a string of events that occurred after a majority of students supported an advisory referendum to change the distribution policy in last years Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) election. In response to the referendum, the ASSU Senate met with RFs, ResEd, and passed a bill asking for a change in the policy. Since then, The Review published an op-ed and news piece about the policy. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) subsequently cited the news article in a spotlight on Stanford. Yet, after all of these efforts, the policy remains intact. · · · Agape Press, February 2, "FIRE Doubts New Report's Campus Sexual Harassment Stats," by Jim Brown "To have a study that includes things that are actually, in some cases, criminal acts on the same continuum of someone cracking a joke that someone doesn't happen to find funny -- it just shows how detached from reality this study actually is," Lukianoff says. Harassment, he contends, is the most abused rationale for censoring clearly protected expression on campuses today. · · · Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, Wis.), February 2, "Speaker was shocked by RA-Bible study ban," by Mary Steigmeir "Being offended is what happens when you have your deepest beliefs challenged," he said. "If you have not been offended by the time you graduate from college, ask for your money back." · · · The Spectator (UWEC), February 2, "FIRE president speaks on campus," by Brian Reisinger Restricting free speech to prevent people from feeling offended or uncomfortable should not be the prerogative of government or its affiliates, said Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. · · · Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, February 2, "Harassment report flawed from get-go," by Greg Lukianoff By defining harassment to include speech protected by the First Amendment, the report elevates personal feelings over fundamental freedoms. As its authors freely admit, What may be a laughing matter for one student may be offensive to another. Students living with such a definition of harassment would be at the mercy of every other students sensitivities. · · · |
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