|

Spotlight on Speech Codes, 2022

Byadmin

Fire (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) has just released its yearly summary of the state of free speech at 481 public and private colleges and universities in the United States. FIRE defines free speech as “the overwhelming majority of speech protected by the First Amendment.” Few exceptions exist. The survey addresses a wide variety of issues with relevance to free speech, including:

Free Speech Zone Policies
Prior Restraints
Security Fee Policies
Policies Governing Speakers, Demonstrations, and Rallies
Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Internet Usage Policies
Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Bullying Policies
Threats and Intimidation
Harassment
Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Obscenity
Incitement

The report is both disappointing and encouraging. It is disappointing because 86% of the institutions surveyed had some impediments to free speech, while only 12% had no impediments. UCLA, but no other UC schools, had no impediments to free speech. The report is encouraging because, for the 14th year in a row, the percentage of schools that were “red-lighted” declined (from 65% in 2012 down to 18% this year).

The report (43 pages) makes for interesting reading. We encourage you to click the link above and take a look.

Similar Posts

| |

Faculty File Historic Academic Freedom Unfair Labor Practice Charges Against UC

Byadmin

Faculty from across the UC system — long synonymous with the Free Speech Movement — have organized to fight a systematic, illegal campaign to repress academic freedom  via cucfa.org Los Angeles, CA – Today, the Council of University of California Faculty Associations (CUCFA) and faculty associations from seven University of California (UC) campuses filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge against the UC administration with the California Public Employee Relations Board (PERB). This systemwide ULP filing builds on a filing by the UCLA Faculty Association this spring. It asserts that UC violated the law, its own policies, and both the…

| | | | | |

UCLA Faculty Association Condemns UC Sidestepping Labor Board, Ongoing Rights Violations on Campus 

Byadmin

Last week, the University of California (UC) circumvented acceptable labor dispute practices to pause the UAW 4811 unfair labor practice (ULP) strike. The strike was twice allowed to proceed by the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), the labor body which will ultimately determine the strike’s legality. This extreme approach by the UC is deeply concerning because it undermines labor laws and the right of PERB to adjudicate labor disputes. We should all be concerned when our administration sidesteps best processes and “venue shops” until they find a court likely to decide in their favor. Such repressive, anti-labor tactics are typical…

| | | |

UCLA-FA files Unfair Labor Practices charge against UC

Byadmin

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 5, 2024) – On June 3rd, the UCLA Faculty Association (UCLAFA) filed unfair labor practice (ULP) charges against the University of California (UC) to vindicate faculty rights to protest, organize, and exercise academic freedom. The ULP charges the UC for UCLA’s failure to uphold, and their choice to interfere with, faculty’s legally protected rights during and after the recent UCLA Palestine Solidarity Encampment. This is the fourth organization to file a ULP against the UC in the wake of its actions at UCLA in late April and early May, following charges by UAW, UC-AFT and AFSCME….

| |

Faculty statements on campus protest crackdown

Byhigbie

We will update this page as more statements come in… Departmental Statements Chicana/o and Central American Studies Faculty Statement Asian American Studies Department Solidarity Statement Statement of Members of the Department of History in Response to Clearing the Encampment, 2 May 2024 Statement of Members of the Department of Classics on the University’s Failure to Protect Student Protestors Statement by Members of the Department of English, Comparative Literature, and Writing Programs in response to the forcible removal of the Student Encampment  Statement of Members of the UCLA Department of History Faculty in Response to the Attack on the Encampment on…

Education Gag Orders Attack Academic Freedom

Byadmin

Academe Blog has posted an article by Jennifer Ruth that describes how red state anti-Critical Race Theory laws are both an impingement of freedom of speech — and so will be challenged on First Amendment grounds — but also are direct attacks on academic freedom. “Despite all its old Cold War fear mongering and all its talk of freedom, the Republican Party now harbors a sizable contingent of politicians who are increasingly willing to use authoritarian tactics to get what they want. The legislative bills banning so-called divisive concepts are the biggest assault on academic freedom this country has ever…

| | | |

Report from the National AAUP Convention

Byadmin

Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA, of which UCLA-FA is the UCLA chapter) President Constance Penley attended the historic National AAUP convention on June 16-18 in Arlington, VA, as the CUCFA delegate, which meant that she had an opportunity to vote on the proposed alliance between the AAUP and the AFT (AFL-CIO) and to fill six open AAUP Council seats. Read her report from the Convention at the CUCFA website.