This is one of the best ratings a college can get these days. The FIRE blog reports.

University of North Florida Earns FIRE’s Highest Rating for Free Speech

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., September 10, 2015—The University of North Florida (UNF) has eliminated all of its unconstitutional speech codes, earning the highest, “green light” rating for free speech from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). With assistance from FIRE, UNF has joined a prestigious group of colleges and universities that have reformed their policies on student and faculty expression to ensure compliance with First Amendment principles.

“As a new academic year begins, I’m very excited to see another university join the growing list of green light institutions,” said Azhar Majeed, Director of FIRE’s Individual Rights Education Program. “UNF’s students, professors, and administrators should be proud that the university’s policies now fully protect First Amendment rights on campus.”

FIRE began working with UNF in October 2014, when UNF had three speech codes earning FIRE’s worst, “red light” rating and an additional three policies earning a “yellow light” rating. Majeed collaborated with Marcus L. Snow, Jr., Senior Associate General Counsel at UNF, to revise all six policies to make them compliant with the First Amendment. Working together, Majeed and Snow revised regulations governing sexual harassment, residence life, and bullying/cyberbullying.

“The University of North Florida values freedom of speech and works diligently to comply with the First Amendment,” said Snow. “We appreciate the efforts of FIRE to ensure freedom of expression protection, as it is important to us as a community.”


 
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