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6.5 Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom Policy

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) follows the USG 6.5 Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom Policy. For more information, see the University System of Georgia’s Policy on Freedom of Expression, which can be found here: https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section6/C2653

The rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution including the right to freedom of speech, the right to the free exercise of religion, and the right peaceably to assemble peaceably are of the utmost importance, and the University System of Georgia (USG) is committed to protecting those rights. In the context of higher education, the constitutionally protected right to freedom of speech includes both academic freedom and freedom of expression. USG and all of its institutions shall vigorously protect those freedoms.

USG and its institutions shall foster an environment where all members of the USG community are free to share ideas and opinions, even those that some may find offensive. Ideas and opinions should be openly and freely debated and discussed, both inside and outside of the classroom, without fear of suppression or reprisal. The USG community should promote intellectual debates, not close them off, and must uphold the values of civility and mutual respect while doing so.

While narrow restrictions to freedom of speech will apply for expression that violates the law or USG or institutional policies, freedom of expression protections are broad. Any necessary limitations will be enforced by USG or institutional administration. Individual members of the USG community shall not attempt to prevent or otherwise interfere with the free expression of others, no matter how objectionable they may find the expressed ideas or opinions.

Similarly, USG is strongly committed to protecting the academic freedom rights of faculty and students. Along with those rights comes an individual responsibility to fulfill obligations in the classroom, in research, and as public citizens.

6.5.1 Academic Freedom

As a public system of higher education, USG is committed to protecting the academic freedom rights of faculty and students in teaching, research, publishing, and other academic activities. All institutions within USG must vigorously promote the open exchange of ideas and protect academic freedom on their campuses.

USG values diversity of intellectual thought and expression for all. While faculty and students must be encouraged to exercise their rights to academic freedom, they must also understand that, along with those rights comes the responsibility to respect the individuality and beliefs of all. Members of the USG community should always seek to foster and defend intellectual honesty, freedom of inquiry, and instruction on and off campus.

Academic freedom is a bedrock of higher education, but it is not unlimited. Faculty academic freedom extends only to classroom material and discussions, research, publications, and other academic activities that are germane to the subject matter being taught, researched, written about, or presented. Faculty members must be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matters that have no relation to their subject.

Students should be provided an environment conducive to learning, be free from faculty or institutional coercion to make personal political or social choices, and be evaluated based on their academic performance, not factors that are irrelevant to that performance such as their personal beliefs. Similarly, faculty and staff have the right to be unburdened by irrelevant factors such as ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths, and should instead be hired and evaluated based on relevant factors such as their achievement and the success of students.

Finally, faculty hold a special position in the community that carries both privileges and obligations. Because faculty are scholars and educators, the public may judge their profession and their institutions by their utterances. Therefore, faculty should always strive to be accurate, exercise appropriate restraint, show respect for the opinions of others, and make every effort when they are expressing their personal opinions to indicate that they are speaking for themselves as private citizens rather than on behalf of their institutions.

This commitment to protecting the academic freedom rights of all faculty and students, as well as ensuring that all faculty and students respect the academic freedom rights of others, is crucial to USG’s mission of providing the best educational opportunities to all Georgians.

A. Overview of Academic Freedom Policy on ABAC's campus

ABAC subscribes to the “1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure” published by the American Association of University Professors. With respect to academic freedom and related responsibilities, these principles are as follows:

  • The purpose of this statement is to promote public understanding and support of academic freedom and tenure and agreement upon procedures to assure them in colleges and universities. Institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good and not to further the interest of either the individual teacher or the institution as a whole. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition.

  • Academic freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research. Freedom in research is fundamental to the advancement of truth. Academic freedom in its teaching aspect is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the teacher in teaching and of the student to freedom in learning. It carries with it duties correlative with rights.

  • Teachers are entitled to full freedom in research and in the publication of the results, subject to the adequate performance of their other academic duties; but research for pecuniary return should be based upon an understanding with the authorities of the institution.

  • Teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject. Limitations of academic freedom because of religious or other aims of the institution should be clearly stated in writing at the time of the appointment.

  • College and university teachers are citizens, members of a learned profession, and officers of an educational institution. When they speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes special obligations. As scholars and educational officers, they should remember that the public may judge their profession and their institution by their utterances. Hence, they should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort to indicate that they are not speaking for the institution.

  • In the classroom, faculty members should make every effort to create an environment in which intellectual diversity is valued and students have the assurance that they will not be penalized for expressing opinions or beliefs that differ from others’ views.

  • Students who feel they have been penalized because of expressed opinions or beliefs have the right to file a formal written complaint to this effect with the appropriate school dean. The complaint will be investigated and a determination will be made as to whether disciplinary action is necessary. If students remain unsatisfied with the outcome of the investigation, they have the right to appeal in writing to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Source: http://www.aaup.org/report/1940-statement-principles-academic-freedom-and-tenure

6.5.2 Institution Freedom of Expression Policies

As public institutions of higher education, USG institutions must promote free expression and academic freedom on their campuses. To that end, the unrestricted outdoor areas of institutions are deemed public forums for the campus community of each institution. For purposes of this policy, the campus community means students, faculty, staff, and their invited guests. While institutions may need to enact policies to promote campus safety, to ensure the proper functioning of the academic environment and institution activities, or to further other important institution objectives, those policies should not unduly burden the free expression rights of students, faculty, and staff.

Institutions may maintain and enforce reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions narrowly tailored to serve a significant institutional interest. Such restrictions must employ clear, published, content- and viewpoint-neutral criteria, and provide for ample alternative means of expression. Finally, any such restrictions may include reservation requirements, if needed, but must also allow for members of the campus community to spontaneously and contemporaneously assemble or distribute literature.

Institutions can designate accessible, high-traffic locations on campus as public forum areas for individuals or groups who are not members of the campus community and can require these individuals or groups to comply with reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, including reservation requirements. Institutions may not consider the content or viewpoint of expression when requiring or assigning use of public forum areas.

USG institutions must place their student free expression policies and procedures in the student handbook and make the same publicly available online. These policies and procedures must also be incorporated into student orientation programs. Finally, institutions must develop materials, programs, and procedures to ensure that faculty and staff understand the institutional policies and duties regarding free expression on campus.

A. Overview of Freedom of Expression Policy on ABAC's Campus

ABAC is committed to providing an educational environment and work climate that is conducive to the personal and professional development of each individual and to protect the rights set forth in the First Amendment, which provides for freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and the right to assemble peaceably. In fulfilling its multiple missions as an institution of higher learning, ABAC encourages the free exchange of ideas and remains firmly committed to affording groups and individuals the opportunity to engage in the expression on campus. In order to achieve this objective, while at the same time ensuring that the College fulfills its educational mission, the College may regulate the time, place, and manner of expression in order to assure equal opportunity for all persons, to preserve order within the campus community, to protect and preserve College property, to provide a secure environment to individuals exercising freedom of expression, or to further other important institution objectives.

This policy in no way prohibits individuals enrolled at or employed by ABAC (“members of the College community”) from engaging in conversations on campus and does not apply to College-sponsored activities, but rather only establishes a designated public forum on ABAC’s locations and sets forth requirements for the reservation and use of the Public Forum Area in the following limited circumstances:

(1) members of the College community who plan an event with 30 or more persons; and, (2) individuals or groups who are not members of the College community who wish to speak on an ABAC location. By placing reasonable limitations on time, place, and manner of speech, ABAC does not take a position on the content or viewpoint of the expression but allows for a diversity of viewpoints to be expressed in an academic setting.

B. Designation of Public Forum on ABAC’s Campus

To better facilitate the free exchange of ideas, ABAC has designated the Public Forum area on different ABAC locations. In Tifton, the area surrounding the fountain near the Carlton Center and Conger Hall is the public forum area on ABAC’s campus (“Public Forum Area”). At the ABAC at Bainbridge site, the public forum area is directly outside the Library. These Public Forum Areas are generally available from 9:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, provided that the area has not previously been reserved. Though reservations to use the Public Forum Area are only required as set forth in Section C and Section D below, the College recommends that all parties interested in using any Public Forum Area submit a completed Forum Reservation Request Form to the Office of Dean of Students, which is located on the second floor of Branch Hall, prior to use so that the College may minimize scheduling conflicts, accommodate all interested users, and provide for campus safety and security. Reservations will only be processed on days that ABAC’s Administrative Offices are open for business (“college business days”).

C. Provisions for Members of the College Community

Members of the College community who plan to engage in expressive activity on campus in a group that is expected to consist of 30 or more persons must submit a completed Forum Reservation Request Form to ABAC’s Office of Dean of Students two (2) college business days prior to the scheduled activity and must receive approval in writing from a Student Affairs official prior to engaging in such activity. Prior notice is required to ensure that there is sufficient space for the large group event, that necessary College resources are available for crowd control and security, and that the academic and other operations of the College are not disrupted. The Student Affairs official may grant a reservation for a Public Forum Area or another available area of campus, as requested by the applicant, and may only deny a reservation for the limited reasons set forth in Section E below.

If an individual or small group of individuals within the College community, while engaging in spontaneous expression, attracts a group of 30 or more persons, then a representative from the group should provide the College with as much notice as circumstances reasonably permit. The College reserves the right to direct a group of 30 or more persons to the Public Forum Area or another available area of campus in order to ensure the safety of campus members, to provide for proper crowd control, and to limit disruption of the academic and other operations of the College. When relocating expression, the College official must not consider or impose restrictions based on the content or viewpoint of the expression.

D. Provisions for Outside Speakers

Individuals or groups of persons who are not enrolled at or employed by ABAC may only engage in expressive activity in the Public Forum Area and only after submitting a completed Forum Reservation Request Form to ABAC’s Office of Dean of Students at least two (2) college business days prior to the scheduled speech and obtaining approval for such use in writing from a Student Affairs official pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section E below. Organizers are encouraged to submit their requests as early in the planning stages of the event as possible. This provision does not apply to any classroom instruction or College-sponsored events.

E. Procedures for Forum Reservation Requests and Appeals

Completed Forum Reservation Request Forms should be submitted to ABAC’s Office of Dean of Students, which is located on the first floor of Conger Hall, at least two (2) college business days prior to the scheduled expression. [Visit Forum Reservation Request Form]

Reservation scheduling will be coordinated by a Student Affairs official who will grant reservations on a first-come, first-served basis. The Student Affairs official will respond to all requests as soon as possible, but in no event, more than two college business day after receipt of the reservation request, either authorizing the reservation and noting any special instructions, if applicable, or setting forth the reason for denial of the reservation.

The Student Affairs official may only deny a reservation request for one of the following reasons:

  1. The Forum Reservation Request Form is not fully completed;

  2. The Forum Reservation Request Form contains a material falsehood or misrepresentation;

  3. The Designated Campus Area requested has/have been reserved by persons who previously submitted a completed Reservation Request Form, in which case the College must provide a reservation for the applicant at an alternate location, alternate date, or alternate time;

  4. The use or activity intended by the applicant would conflict with or disturb previously planned programs organized and conducted by the College;

  5. The Designated Campus Area requested is/are not large enough to accommodate the expected or actual number of persons engaging in large group expression, in which case the College must provide a reservation for the applicant at an alternate location that can safely accommodate the applicant provided that the applicant is a member of the ABAC community and that such a location exists on the ABAC's campus;

  6. The use or activity intended by the applicant would present a danger to the health or safety of the applicant, other members of the College community, or the public; or

  7. The use or activity intended by the applicant is prohibited by law, Board of Regents policy, or ABAC policy.

  8. The request seeks to reserve the Designated Campus Area during the first full week of classes and final exam weeks of each semester;

  9. The applicant seeks to reserve a location on campus other than the Designated Campus Area;

  10. The use or activity intended by the applicant would violate the General Provisions in USG Policy 6.5 Freedom of Expression.

When assessing a reservation request, the Student Affairs official must not consider or impose restrictions on the expression based on the content or viewpoint of the expression.

Any denial of a reservation request may be appealed to the Vice President for Student Affairs (VPSA) in writing setting forth the reasons why the appeal should be granted. The VPSA or designee must respond to the appeal in writing within one college business day. The decision of the VPSA or designee is final.

F. Written Material

Members of the College community may distribute non-commercial pamphlets, handbills, circulars, newspapers, magazines, and other materials that are protected by the First Amendment on a person-to-person basis in open outdoor areas of campus. An individual who is not a member of the College community may only distribute written materials within the Public Forum Area and only during the time in which the individual has been granted a reservation to use the Public Forum Area. Handbills cannot be placed on cars. The College maintains a position of neutrality as to the content of any written material distributed on the campus under this policy.

G. General Provisions

In addition to the requirements set forth above, all individuals expressing themselves on ABAC’s campus must comply with the following provisions:

  1. Disruptive Activity - Obstruction, disruption, or interference with classes, administrative functions, or other college activities or events is not permitted. Likewise, infringement on the rights of others is prohibited. Any attempt by repeated demands, threats, or otherwise to coerce passersby into stopping and participating in debate or discussion is prohibited.

  2. Reasonable Access - Expression must not block access to or exit from any office, classroom, laboratory, or building. Likewise, vehicular and pedestrian traffic should not be obstructed.

  3. Picketing and Distribution of Literature - Picketing in an orderly manner or distributing literature outside of the Free Speech Area is acceptable with the appropriate permit. Picketing is not permitted inside campus buildings. Literature may be distributed in the public areas of the campus and in public areas in certain campus buildings after receiving the appropriate permit. It is not permissible to post materials on any walls, windows, doors, sidewalks, trees, light poles, etc., or on any other college equipment without prior approval.

  4. Noise - Sound amplification is not permitted. Noise levels should not interfere with classes, meetings, or activities in progress, or the privacy of residence hall students.

  5. Presenting Identification - It is not permitted for any person on any property either owned or controlled by the College to refuse to identify him/herself by presenting a student or faculty/staff ID card or driver’s license.

  6. Damage to Property - Care should be taken to ensure that College and personal property is not damaged or destroyed. This includes the campus lawns, shrubs, and trees. Malicious or unwarranted damage to or destruction of property owned or operated by the College or students, faculty, staff, or visitors to the College is prohibited. Persons or organizations causing such damage may be held financially and/or legally responsible.

  7. Prohibition on Litter - All structures, signs, and litter resulting from any expression must be removed following the expression. Persons or organizations involved in or sponsoring the expression may be held financially responsible for cleanup costs.

  8. Compliance with Laws, Policies, and Regulations - All individuals expressing themselves on campus must comply with state, federal, and local law; municipal ordinances; ABAC policies and regulations; Board of Regents policies and regulations; and the above guidelines and must not engage in violence or incite others to engage in violence or commit illegal or dangerous acts.

Failure to comply with all applicable laws, ordinances, policies, and regulations may result in immediate removal from the campus and any other appropriate action legal or disciplinary action.

Questions about ABAC’s Freedom of Expression Policy may be addressed to ABAC’s Office of Student Affairs at (229) 391-5130 or deanofstudents@abac.edu.