Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A)
Policy statement
and purpose. A state institution of higher education, Owens community college
affirms campus free speech as prescribed in sections
3345.021,
3345.0211,
3345.0212,
3345.0213, and
3345.0215 of the Revised Code.
Specifically, this rule affirms the following principles, which are the public
policy of the state.
(1)
Students and all members of the college have a
fundamental constitutional right to free speech.
(2)
A state
institution of higher education shall be committed to giving students broad
latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, learn, and discuss any issue,
subject to paragraph (H) of this rule.
(3)
A state
institution of higher education shall be committed to maintaining a campus as a
marketplace of ideas for all students, faculty and members of the college in
which the free exchange of ideas is not to be suppressed because the ideas put
forth are thought by some or even by most members of the institution's
community to be offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable,
conservative, liberal, traditional, radical, or wrong-headed.
(4)
It is for a state
institution of higher education's individual students and all members of the
college to make judgments about ideas for themselves, and to act on those
judgments not by seeking to suppress free speech, but by openly and vigorously
contesting the ideas that they oppose.
(5)
It is not the
proper role of a state institution of higher education to attempt to shield
individuals from free speech, including ideas and opinions they find offensive,
unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable, conservative, liberal, traditional,
radical, or wrong-headed.
(6)
Although a state institution of higher education should
greatly value civility and mutual respect, concerns about civility and mutual
respect shall never be used by an institution as a justification for closing
off the discussion of ideas, however offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent,
disagreeable, conservative, liberal, traditional, radical, or wrong-headed
those ideas may be to some students or faculty.
(7)
Although all
students, faculty and members of the college are free to state their own views
about and contest the views expressed on campus, and to state their own views
about and contest speakers who are invited to express their views on the campus
of a state institution of higher education, they may not substantially obstruct
or otherwise substantially interfere with the freedom of others to express
views they reject or even loathe. To this end, a state institution of higher
education has a responsibility to promote a lively and fearless freedom of
debate and deliberation and protect that freedom.
(8)
A state
institution of higher education shall be committed to providing an atmosphere
that is most conducive to speculation, experimentation, and creation by all
students, faculty and members of the college, who shall always remain free to
inquire, to study and to evaluate, and to gain new understanding. For an
atmosphere that is respectful, civility and listening are
encouraged.
(9)
The primary responsibility of faculty and members of
the college is to engage an honest, courageous, and persistent effort to search
out and communicate the truth that lies in the areas of their competence or
discipline.
(B)
Application. This rule applies to students, student
groups, faculty and all members of the college and others who have an
affiliation with the college.
(C)
Definitions. Free
speech means speech, expression, or assemblies protected by the First Amendment
to the United States Constitution or Article I, Sections 3 and 11 of the Ohio
Constitution, verbal or written, including, but not limited to, all forms of
peaceful assembly, protests, demonstrations, rallies, vigils, marches, public
speaking, distribution of printed materials, carrying signs, displays, or
circulating petitions. Free speech does not include the promotion, sale, or
distribution of any product or service. Other definitions are provided in
section 3345.0215 of the Revised
Code.
(D)
Reporting an incident. Complete and submit the online
incident reporting form, posted on the college website under student conduct.
Or, a student may report an incident to the office of student life; a faculty
or staff member may report an incident to the office of human
resources.
(E)
Investigation. The board of trustees designates college
administration to investigate an allegation in a complaint and for college
executives to determine a resolution to address the violation, as detailed in
the corresponding procedures to this rule.
(F)
Annual report.
Each state institution of higher education annually shall report to the
chancellor, in a form and manner prescribed by the chancellor, the complaints
submitted in the academic year.
(G)
Nothing in this
section shall be construed to grant individuals the right to disrupt previously
scheduled or reserved activities occurring in a traditional public
forum.
(H)
Nothing contained in this rule shall be construed as
prohibiting a state institution of higher education from imposing measures that
do not violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Article
I, Sections 3 and 11 of the Ohio Constitution such as:
(1)
Constitutional
time, place, and manner restrictions;
(2)
Reasonable and
viewpoint-neutral restrictions in nonpublic forums;
(3)
Restricting the
use of the state institution's property to protect the free speech rights of
students and members of the college and preserve the use of the property for
the advancement of the institution's mission;
(4)
Prohibiting or
limiting speech, expression, or assemblies that are not protected by the First
Amendment to the United States Constitution or Article I, Sections 3 and 11 of
the Ohio Constitution;
(5)
Content restrictions on speech that are reasonably
related to a legitimate pedagogical purpose, such as classroom rules enacted by
teachers.
(I)
Supplements. This rule supplements and supports Owens
community college rule
3358:11-3-66 of the
Administrative Code (campus and community complaint process) and rule
3358:11-3-11 of the
Administrative Code (student conduct).
(J)
Implementation.
The president or designee(s) will implement procedures, guidelines, forms, and
operational processes, which are consistent with the provisions of this
rule.
