Campus Reform: Westfield State College

FIRE, a tireless champion of student's rights on campus, has announced its February 2010 winner of worst campus speech code: Westfield State College.

Here is FIRE's description of the speech code. Read it, and let us know in the comments what it's really like at your school.

Westfield's Student Handbook prohibits "discrimination," which it defines to include "making disparaging remarks that insult or stigmatize a student's cultural background or race" as well as "making insensitive remarks that reflect a student's disability." Westfield State College is a public university, bound to protect its students' First Amendment right to free speech. The college recognizes this fact elsewhere in its policies, clearly stating that "Westfield State College recognizes that the student, as an adult member of society and a citizen of the United States of America, is entitled to respect and consideration and has the right to the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of speech, assembly and association." The non-discrimination policy, however, completely ignores this obligation, explicitly prohibiting large amounts of protected speech.

Even more troubling is the fact that the policy, on its face, applies to core political expression. For example, an argument against the stringent requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act—particularly if it is harshly worded—might sound "insensitive" to disabled students on campus. Or, to take an example of an actual case from the University of Alaska, a discussion of child sexual abuse in Native Alaskan communities might offend students who feel that the discussion insults or stigmatizes their cultural background.