Free Speech Tensions: Responding to Bias on College and University Campuses

Racial discrimination and student–faculty interaction in STEM: Probing the mechanisms influencing inequality.

“…For students, universities should implement STEM-specific bias reporting mechanisms where individuals can confidentially report discriminatory experiences (Miller, Guida, Smith, Ferguson, & Medina, 2018). Although some institutions have university-wide bias reporting systems and bias response teams in place (Miller et al, 2018;New, 2016;Snyder & Khalid, 2016), a STEM-focused portal could make people of color feel more comfortable reporting This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.…”

Repressive Legalism: How Postsecondary Administrators’ Responses to On-Campus Hate Speech Undermine a Focus on Inclusion

“…Other studies, which employ rhetorical situation analysis or critical race theory to examine institutional statements issued in the aftermath of racial incidents, including hate speech, illustrate trends to rarely acknowledge the harm these incidents caused students of color or the systemic issues that fostered such hostility (Cole & Harper, 2017), or the ability to articulate the nature of the incident as racist (Davis & Harris, 2016). Studies based on interviews with administrative leaders show that bias-response teams, which respond to specific incidents of hate speech, typically offer support to targeted students but believe that their own actions are circumscribed by legal considerations that protect expressions of hate (Miller et al, 2017(Miller et al, , 2018. Documenting the range of university stakeholders' perspectives on hate speech, analyses of interviews and survey data show that administrators commonly perceive hate speech as part of campus violence (Mayhew et al, 2011), and that faculty of color would choose to prohibit hate speech in order to reduce harassment of students (Dey & Hurtado, 1996).…”

My Culture Is Not a Costume: Institutional Practices and Racism

“…It is also worth acknowledging that these speech issues emerge in the context of bias incidents rather than situations where hate crimes have been perpetuated. As Miller, Guida, Smith, Ferguson, and Medina () wrote “free speech protections do not apply to criminal acts” (p.2). Additionally, hate crimes (criminal acts) are covered by policies that overlap with those related to bias incidents, but those bias incidents may not be criminal acts.…”

“…Additionally, hate crimes (criminal acts) are covered by policies that overlap with those related to bias incidents, but those bias incidents may not be criminal acts. Instead, bias incidents “may still include conduct or expression prohibited by institutional policy at public and private institutions” (Miller et al., , p. 2). This leaves administrators in a challenging position.…”

“…These challenges emerge during the policy writing process, but also for conduct officers around policy education and enforcement. As institutions faced public and judicial pushback to overly prescriptive and rigid speech codes at the end of the last century (Kaplin & Lee, ; Miller et al., ), administrators today must wrestle with issues of equity and safety on campus combined with space for the free exchange of ideas and opinions.…”