Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A)
Clark state
college is an academic community in which all persons - students, faculty,
administration and staff - share responsibility for its growth and continued
welfare. As members of the college community, students can reasonably expect
that the following rights shall be respected by all college offices, programs,
employees and organizations.
Clark state college further encourages
all members of the college community to endorse, support and abide by the
following statement of values which this community has deemed fundamental to
its mission and integral to its growth.
Speech/expression/press
Employees may express themselves freely
on any subject provided they do so in a manner that does not violate this
policy. Employees, in turn, have the responsibility to respect the rights of
all members of the college in exercising these freedoms.
(B)
In accordance with the public policy and the laws of
the state of Ohio, Clark state affirms the following principles:
(1)
Students have a
fundamental constitutional right to free speech.
(2)
The college is
committed to giving students broad latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge,
learn, and discuss any issue, subject to division (E) of section 3345.0215 of
the Revised Code.
(3)
The college is committed to maintaining a campus as a
marketplace of ideas for all students and all faculty 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 college's community to be
offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable, conservative, liberal,
traditional, radical, or wrongheaded.
(4)
It is for the
college's individual students and faculty 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 the college to attempt to
shield individuals from free speech, including ideas and opinions they find
offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable, conservative, liberal,
traditional, radical, or wrongheaded.
(6)
Although the
college greatly values civility and mutual respect, concerns about civility and
mutual respect shall never be used 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 and faculty 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 campus, 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, the college
has a responsibility to promote a lively and fearless freedom of debate and
deliberation and protect that freedom.
(8)
The college shall
be committed to providing an atmosphere that is most conducive to speculation,
experimentation, and creation by all students and all faculty, who shall always
remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, and to gain new
understanding.
(9)
The primary responsibility of faculty is to engage an
honest, courageous, and persistent effort to search out and communicate the
truth that lies in the areas of their competence.
(C)
Nothing contained
in this policy shall be construed as prohibiting the College 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 college's property to
protect the free speech rights of students and teachers and preserve the use of
the property for the advancement of the college'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.
(D)
Nothing in this policy shall be construed to grant
students the right to disrupt previously scheduled or reserved activities
occurring in a traditional public forum.
(E)
Nothing in this
policy shall be interpreted as restricting or impairing the college's
obligations under federal law including, but not limited to, Title IV of the
Higher Education Act of 1965, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1962, Title
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of
1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans
with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Age
Discrimination Act of 1975.
(F)
Complaints
(1)
As outlined in
the "Employee Campus Free Speech Policy Complaint Resolution Procedures,"
employees may submit a complaint about an alleged violation of the above
policy.
(2)
The college will investigate the alleged violation as
outlined in the "Employee Campus Free Speech Policy Complaint Resolution
Procedures," which shall comply with standards adopted by the Ohio chancellor
of higher education.
(3)
The college will investigate the alleged violation as
outlined in the "Employee Campus Free Speech Policy Complaint Resolution
Procedures," which shall comply with standards adopted by the Ohio chancellor
of higher education.
