Hate Speech versus Free Speech on College Campuses: Exploring the Viability of a Constitutional and Sustainable Campus Speech Code

CCI Auditorium, 321 Communications Building

This article explored the viability of a Constitutional and sustainable campus speech code. Specifically, this article used the website and rating system of the organization Freedom for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) as the source for the pilot analysis. Southeastern Conference and Pacific 10 Conference universities were chosen as the sample, and both the overall university and individual codes were examined for violations of free speech. For the purpose of this article, codes that were found to have no violations were presented. This article found that based on the chosen sample, no Constitutional and sustainable campus speech code is currently viable. However, analysis of a broader sample is recommended.

Keywords: campus speech codes, hate speech, free speech