freedom of speech in college?

Question

I'm hoping someone with knowledge of law can help me out. I have a teacher in my online college writing class who just gave me a warning for being "rude" to another student. What I did was I wrote a letter answering a students critique of one of my pieces (an extremely ignorant and arbitrary one.) with something along the lines of “well that’s your problem not mine." And then I get this warning letter, so what I'm wondering is: Don't I have free speech in college to say whatever I want? I mean it's not like I wrote profanity, but I may have written some bitter words. Anybody know what the limits of free speech in college are? Thanks

Answer 1

I believe Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (484 US 260, 1988) would apply here.

The note that you sent to the other student was related to a school sponsored activity, which was a class assignment.

According to Hazelwood, a court may only intervene when the action taken by the educational institution serves no valid educational purpose.

Here, the interest is in the educational development of the students at the university. The university could characterize bitter words as an impedence to the educational process. Absent a compelling reason to permit the expression, the university may so restrict as it is furthering a legitimate purpose.

However, if your message was in response to something the student said that was political in tone, this could be protected. "Capitalism/Communism is a Fxcxing plague on society" would most likely prevail. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District and Cohen v. California, the Supreme Court held that expression or profanity when coupled with a political protest or message may not be restricted.

Contrary to what Steven said, you may not waive your Constitutional Rights when entering a private university. It says so in the Constitution. It's the supreme law of the land and it trumps everything else. For instance, your equal protection civil rights are always in effect. Should a private university deny admission based on race, you can expect a federal court to change that pretty soon. But, all girls, or all boys schools may serve a legitimate educational purpose, and so this is allowed. But at the same time, expelling women from a women's college if they become pregnant would be unconstitutional.

Answer 2

I'd love to read the speech. Making the huge assumption that he was really called that--and one wonders whether there were witnesses--the professor was out of line. Way out of line. The only time a prof should silence a student is if the student's speech directly abuses or threatens others. However, it is important to remember this rule about free speech: you can say anything you want, in a classroom or anywhere else, but be sure you're ready to take the consequences. And by the way, what about the prof's right of free speech? A professor, technically, has the right to directly insult a student, but has to take the consequences. I would say that the proper response is for the college to investigate and see if the prof was just having a really bad day, or if this is part of a pattern. If the latter, then he/she should not be teaching, obviously. Either way, the department and the prof should formally apologize to the student. But a lawsuit? That's silly. Why clog the courts with such nonsense. There is such a thing as good manners, which dictates that if you wrong someone, and there's no actual harm done, one party asks forgiveness, the other party grants it, and both get on with life.

Answer 3

If it's a public university, you have the freedom to speak in any way you choose to express yourself -- UNLESS it interferes with the ability of others to learn and reap the benefits of the education


at a private university, you sign away ALL of your rights when you agree to pay them to do whatever they like

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note:
for the private university, i should note that what you do is sign a contract, in effect, when you agree to attend their school

that's why "segregation" or "male only" or "female only" are not banned from the private sector

in signing the agreement to attend their school, you agree to whatever rules they set out

Answer 4

If you live in the United States you are entitled to your first amendment rights period! You could have a lawsuit against the university if you are reprimanded for this.