Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!m.cs.uiuc.edu!kadie
From: kadie@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Carl M. Kadie)
Newsgroups: comp.admin.policy
Subject: Re: harassing mail
Message-ID: <1991May23.131100.8436@m.cs.uiuc.edu>
Date: 23 May 91 13:11:00 GMT
References: <1991May21.232534.17880@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> <1991May22.004900.21797@athena.cs.uga.edu> <1991May22.040819.29865@m.cs.uiuc.edu> <1991May22.124033.3668@athena.cs.uga.edu> <1991May23.023441.8112@osh3.OSHA.GOV>
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Lines: 49


>>In article <1991May22.040819.29865@m.cs.uiuc.edu>
>>                                kadie@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Carl M. Kadie) writes:
[...]
>>>How does this compare with your university's general policies? Does
>>>your university prohibit "embarassing" student organizations from
>>>using "free" university resources such as building space for meetings
>>>or talks?

chip@osh3.OSHA.GOV (Chip Yamasaki) writes:

>I don't know about their policies, but in Mikes defense I would have to
>guess YES.  If the student organization is gathering for something
>purely defamatory like a "The dean is a fink" rally, I do think they
>would deny use of campus resources.  Mike certainly wasn't talking about
>topics or content that would be controversial but, as he said in another
>post, harassing.
[...]

I don't think a "the dean is a fink" rally (or e-mail) should count as
harrassment. The Joint Statement on Rights and Freedoms of Students,
the main expression of student academic freedom in the US, says:

--(begin quote) ---
B. Freedom of Inquiry and Expression

  1. Students and student organizations should be free to examine and
discuss all questions of interest to them, and to express opinions
publicly and privately. They should always be free to support causes
by orderly means which do not disrupt the regular and essential
operation of the institution. At the same time, it should be made
clear to the academic and the larger community that in their public
expressions or demonstrations students or student organizations speak
only for themselves.

  2. Students should be allowed to invite and to hear any person of
their own choosing. Those routine procedures required by an
institution before a guest speaker is invited to appear on campus
should be designed only to insure that there is orderly scheduling of
facilities and adequate preparation for the event, and that the
occasion is conducted in a manner appropriate to an academic
community. The institutional control of campus facilities should not
be used as a device of censorship. It should be made clear to the
academic and larger community that sponsorship of guest speakers does
not necessarily imply approval or endorsement of the views expressed,
either by the sponsoring group or the institution.
--(end   quote) ---
-- 
Carl Kadie -- kadie@cs.uiuc.edu -- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign