Student Assembly

R. 62 The Freedom Clause

Whereas, Cornell’s Campus Code of Conduct states, “Because it is a special kind of community, whose purpose is the discovery of truth through the practice of free inquiry, a university has an essential dependence on a commitment to the values of unintimidated speech,” and

Whereas, a unanimous Supreme Court stated in Healy v. James that, “the precedents of this Court leave no room for the view that, because of the acknowledged need for order, First Amendment protections should apply with less force on college campuses than in the community at large,” and

Whereas, in spite of their differences, public universities and secular private universities should not differ on the First Amendment, and

Whereas, the State of California passed the Leonard Law in 1992 to extend First Amendment protections to students of private universities and colleges, and

Whereas, several state legislators in Maryland have proposed the Free Speech at Nonpublic Institutions of Higher Education Bill, modeled after the Leonard Law, and

Whereas, The Herald-Mail reports that this bill is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, the College Republicans, and the College Democrats,

Whereas, while the contract for independent student organizations provides many benefits to independent organizations, these benefits do not include First Amendment protections;

Be it therefore resolved, that the following clause, modeled after the Leonard Law, be inserted into the Student Activities Office’ contract for independent student organization before all other clauses, and that the remaining clauses be appropriately renumbered:

1. First Amendment Protections The University shall not make or enforce a rule subjecting members of the IO to disciplinary sanctions solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that, when engaged in outside the campus or facility of the University, is protected from governmental restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. This clause does not authorize the prior restraint of members’ speech. This clause does not prohibit the imposition of discipline for harassment, threats, or intimidation, unless constitutionally protected. This clause does not prohibit the University from adopting rules and regulations that are designed to prevent hate crimes from being directed at students in a manner that denies them their full participation in the educational process, so long as the rules and regulations conform to standards established by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mike Wacker ‘10
Cornell Daily Sun Contributor

Jon Rau ‘12
S.A. Arts and Sciences Representative

Alex Latella ‘10
S.A. Vice President of Internal Operations

Ray Mensah ‘11
Executive Vice President-Elect