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University of California, Davis: Mandatory Violence Prevention Program Violates Students’ Freedom of Conscience
November 20, 2014
Category: Freedom of ConscienceRequiring students to profess viewpoints with which they may disagree violates the students’ freedom of conscience.
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Nationwide: “All-comers” Policies Jeopardize Free Association
April 2, 2013
Category: Freedom of Conscience -
Vanderbilt University: Refusal to Approve Constitutions of Student Groups that Require Leaders to Share Beliefs
January 27, 2012
Category: Freedom of Conscience, Religious LibertyThe Vanderbilt chapter of the Christian Legal Society (CLS) was told in April 2011 that recognition of its constitution would be “deferred,” and Vanderbilt claimed that the group’s Statement of Faith violated university policies.
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Hamilton College: Thought Reform of ‘Pro-Rape’ Male Freshmen
September 24, 2010
Category: Freedom of ConscienceHamilton College has failed to explain its actions against freedom of conscience and its suggestion that women at Hamilton College are unsafe because of the campus’ “rape culture.”
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University of Minnesota – Twin Cities: Political Litmus Test for Future Teachers
November 25, 2009
Category: Freedom of Conscience -
North Shore Community College: Ideological Litmus Testing for Job Candidates
March 27, 2009
Category: Freedom of ConscienceAt North Shore Community College, FIRE became concerned about the threat to freedom of conscience posed by NSCC’s job announcement requiring “Appreciation of multiculturalism” for a full-time faculty member in the school’s English Department. This requirement imposed a political litmus test on job candidates and forced a faculty member to maintain a fundamental viewpoint with which he or she might not have agreed. After FIRE wrote NSCC President Wayne Burton about his college’s violation of freedom of conscience, NSCC agreed to keep this requirement out of all present and future job announcements.
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Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: “Diversity” Requirement for Faculty Assessment Violates Academic Freedom and Freedom of Conscience
March 25, 2009
Category: Freedom of ConscienceSince Virginia Tech first rescinded its ideological litmus test for faculty in its liberal arts college under pressure from FIRE, the school has slowly been making progress toward intellectual freedom. Most recently, Virginia Tech removed a politicized elaboration of “diversity accomplishments” from its university-wide tenure and promotion guidelines. A separate document still contains the diversity guidelines, however. The university also has yet to retract its demands that faculty demonstrate such “diversity accomplishments” when seeking raises, tenure, or promotion. These demands violate faculty members’ freedom of conscience and academic freedom by politicizing the consideration of their teaching, scholarship, and personal development […]
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University of Delaware: Students Required to Undergo Ideological Reeducation
October 29, 2007
Category: Freedom of ConscienceFollowing an intense campaign led by FIRE and national media attention, the University of Delaware dropped an ideological reeducation program that was referred to in the university’s own materials as a “treatment” for students’ incorrect attitudes and beliefs. The program’s stated goal was for the approximately 7,000 students in Delaware’s residence halls to adopt highly specific university-approved views on politics, race, sexuality, sociology, moral philosophy, and environmentalism. The residence life education program made mandatory, among other things, one-on-one meetings between students and their Resident Assistants (RAs) where students were asked intrusive questions, such as “When did you discover your sexual identity?” FIRE […]
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Hamline University: Student Suspended after Advocating Concealed Carry on Campus
May 29, 2007
Category: Due Process, Free Speech, Freedom of ConscienceHamline University suspended a student after he sent an e-mail suggesting that the Virginia Tech massacre might have been stopped if students had been allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus. Student Troy Scheffler was required to undergo a mandatory “mental health evaluation” before being allowed to return to school. Scheffler was suspended without due process just two days after sending the e-mail.
