APPENDIX
B
Policy on Off-Campus Speakers
Uniform Regulations for Off-Campus
Speakers Invited by Organized Student and Faculty Groups
An invitation to an outside or
off-campus speaker to speak on the university campus may be
made by the university on its own or at the request of any
registered and recognized student or faculty organization.
The university may authorize the requesting organization to
actually extend the approved invitation to speak. The fact
that the speaker may be provocative and strike at prejudices
or preconceptions and may hold views contrary to and disliked
by the campus and the surrounding community is not a permissible
basis for the denial of the right of the faculty or student
organization to hear him.
There is, however, no absolute
right on the part of any organization to assemble and hear
a speech at any particular time or place and under any and
all circumstances. Consequently, the university shall adopt
and enforce such rules and regulations as it may deem to be
necessary and proper in regard to the issuance of invitation
to outside or off-campus speakers and no such invitation shall
be issued at the request of any registered and recognized
organization prior to its compliance with such rules and regulations.
Special guest lecturers may, however, speak on scholarly or
scientific topics before classes, seminars, or other academic
meetings solely at the invitation of the faculty member responsible
for the academic content of the occasion.
The issuance of invitations to outside
speakers shall be limited in the following particulars, but
only in the manner set forth herein:
- A request to invite an outside speaker
will be considered only when made by an officially recognized
student group or faculty group.
- No invitation by such recognized
group shall be issued to an outside speaker without prior
written concurrence by the President* for scheduling of
speaker dates and assignment of campus facilities.
- Any speaker request shall be made
in writing by an officer of the student or faculty organization
desiring to sponsor the proposed speaker not later than
thirty (30) calendar days prior to the date of the proposed
speaking engagement. This request shall contain the name
of the sponsoring organization, the proposed date, time,
and location of the meeting, the expected size of the audience
and topic of speech. Any request not acted upon by the President*
within fifteen (15) days after submission, shall be deemed
granted.
- A request to invite or for permission
to invite an outside or off-campus speaker made by a registered
and recognized organization shall be denied if the President*
determines, after proper inquiry, that the proposed speech
will constitute a clear and present reasonable apprehension
of imminent danger to the normal activities and the essential
purpose of the university. The determination of the President*
of the existence of a clear and present danger must be based
upon the fact that the speaker will probably advocate and
incite one or more of the following: the violent overthrow
of the government; the willful damage or destruction or
seizure or invasion and subversion of university buildings
or property; the forcible disruption or impairment of or
interference with the regularly scheduled classes or normal
university activity; physical harm, coercion, intimidation
or other invasion of the lawful rights of members of the
University Community or its guests; or any other campus
disorder of a violent nature.
The President* should weigh the interests
of the university in the orderly administration of normal
university activities against the interest of the students
and faculty in hearing controversial speakers and may consider
all relevant facts including whether the proposed speaker
has, within the past five years, incited violence resulting
in physical injury or the destruction of property at any
educational institution or has willfully incited and caused
the forcible disruption of regularly scheduled classes or
any other normal university activities at any educational
institution.
- Where the request for an outside
speaker is denied, any sponsoring organization thereby aggrieved
shall, upon written application to the President*, obtain
a hearing within two days following the filing of its appeal
before the University Hearing Board.
The extension of an invitation to an outside
or off-campus speaker to speak on the campus shall not constitute
endorsement of the speaker nor approval of his views by the
university or the organization which sponsors his appearance
and no speaker or sponsoring organization shall represent nor
imply, in any manner, that the speaker has been endorsed or
that his views have been approved by the university. The university
may require the meeting be chaired by a member of the administration
or faculty and this fact or the fact that the speaker is introduced
by a member of the administration or faculty shall not imply
that the speaker or his views have been endorsed and approved
by the university. A speaker
is subject to all state and federal laws and all university
rules and regulations and by his acceptance of the invitation
to speak shall assume full responsibility for any violation
of such laws or rules committed by him while on the campus.
An utterance of a context of violence, involving a clear and
present danger, can lose its significance as an appeal to
reason and become part of an instrument of force and as such
is not protected by any constitutional right.
Sponsoring organizations are
subject to all state and federal laws and to the rules and
regulations adopted by the university and the Board of Regents.
Violations shall be handled in accordance with the procedures
set forth in the Code of Conduct.
- The President has authorized and
directed the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs act for
him/her insofar as approval and denial of requests to invite
or for permission to invite outside or off-campus speakers.
- See related Statement on Assembly
(Appendix K)
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