College and University Students: The Case of Campus Hate Speech (and Conduct) Codes
Richard Delgado, Jean Stefancic · 2019
Literally hundreds of colleges and universities have enacted some type of hate speech code. Campus hate speech codes take almost as many different forms as the human imagination is capable of. The campus hate speech controversy contains a few elements that are not present elsewhere in the discourse on hate speech, in part because hate speech codes, unlike tort or criminal law rules, operate before, not after, the fact. Most hate speech codes contain a scienter element—that is, that the speaker realize that his or her words were offensive—and another requiring a certain level of effect, such as “severe” disruption of the ability to study. A few prescribe what is acceptable speech for faculty. These faculty speech codes, as one might imagine, spark even sharper resistance than ones that apply to students. One state has enacted a statewide statute barring any institution that enacts a hate-speech code from receiving state funds.