Mickelle Bisbee – Staff Writer
Embedded within the policies of the Student Code of Conduct are the University of Wyoming’s harassment policies.
FIRE, an organization that helps protect American liberties for students and faculty across the nation, has coded the university’s sexual harassment policy in the Student Code of Conduct as a red light.
According to the university’s Student Code of Conduct, sexual harassment is “unwelcome or coercive sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, sexually motivated physical conduct, or other verbal or physical conduct or communication of a sexual nature.”
“Wyoming’s policies are written so broadly that they could easily be applied to restrict protected speech,” said FIRE’s senior program officer and policy reformer, Laura Beltz.
Beltz said with accordance to the definition, a single dirty joke that does not create a hostile environment or is severe, pervasive and offensive to the victim, would have the same punishment as offensive remarks repeated substantially and actively causing harm.
The school had also received three yellow lights, entailing that certain policies restrict a limited amount of protected expression because of vague writing. These include the Student Code of Conduct’s bullying policy, Sexual Misconduct Policies and Procedures Document for Faculty, Staff, and Students and UW Regulation 4-2: Discrimination and Harassment.
Beltz said students reading these policies can self-censor unintentionally, resulting in restriction of a student’s first amendment rights.
“[FIRE] thinks that it is important to revise the policies so that they actually reflect the legal standards so students know exactly what is punishable and what is not, so they can conform their conduct to that policy,” Beltz said.
According to the Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, 526 U.S. 629, 651 (1999) case, the Supreme Court defined peer-on-peer harassment in an educational setting as “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that so undermines and detracts from the victims’ educational experience, that the victim-students are effectively denied equal access to an institution’s resources and opportunities.”
FIRE recommends the university to review the Supreme Court’s definition and revise the policy accordingly.
Chad Balwin, spokesperson for the university, said he had no comment on the FIRE rating itself, but that the sexual harassment policy, like all policies, is always under review.
“FIRE would be happy at anytime to work with the university to revise these policies,” said Beltz.
FIRE has worked with universities and schools in the past to revise their policies to the current legal standards set by the Supreme Court. Beltz said it is important for schools to meet 1st amendment standards so schools are not in danger of infringing on student and faculty speech.
