Civil Discourse & Free Speech

We hope that all international students will seek out opportunities to be involved in IU student communities. As you do so, please know that all members of the IU community are held to the following principles and guidelines.

General principles

• As a public institution, Indiana University Bloomington is bound by the requirements of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Indiana Constitution Article 1 Section 9. As a university, we have a distinctive commitment to free inquiry and free expression that guides our teaching and research.
• As the home and workplace of thousands of faculty, staff, and students, Indiana University Bloomington is committed to the physical safety of its community members and to their right to work and live without disruption.
• As stewards of public facilities and grounds, Indiana University Bloomington is entrusted by the state with the protection of the campus physical environment.

Guidelines

• As a public university subject to the requirements of the First Amendment, IU cannot and will not limit speakers or visitors to the university solely on the basis of their points of view or beliefs, nor will IU prohibit the expression of objections to speakers or their points of view. Both are essential parts of an environment of free and open expression. Constitutional protections for freedom of expression require that the university be viewpoint-neutral: that is, that we protect speech, and counter-speech, whether or not university officers or trustees (or other community members) agree with the content of that speech.
• Indeed, the Constitution protects speech even if we vehemently disagree with it, and even if it is antithetical to our deepest values, such as words that one would consider hateful. There is no constitutional exception for hate speech.
• With those principles in mind, it follows that the fact that a person is invited to speak at IU does not represent institutional or individual endorsement of that person’s views or character.
• IU may not exclude a speaker solely because of the mere possibility of—or threats of—disruption (the so-called hecklers’ veto). However, any such threats may be the basis for additional security requirements, and will be taken into account in IU’s overall evaluation of safety.
• Consistent with the First Amendment, IU may impose reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner of speech for the purpose of assuring that the members of our community are able to learn, teach, and conduct research, that the administrative functions of the university supporting our mission can continue, and that invited speakers can speak without deliberate disruption.
  • IU requires that those who wish to invite speakers follow university protocols for the use of IU facilities. If you are a student group unsure of what those procedures are, please contact the Student Involvement & Leadership Center (sil@indiana.edu). Faculty should work through their department chairs and deans.
  • Neither speakers nor protestors may disrupt the educational, research, or administrative functions or events of the university, nor may they remain without permission in non-public or closed areas of the university, such as assigned offices, studios, classrooms, and similar spaces.
• IU will make every effort to protect invited speakers, their supporters, and protesters from physical harm or threats of physical harm, without regard to their views or the identity of their sponsors. We will not abide physical violence, threats of physical violence, nor destruction of property, and we prohibit the unauthorized possession or threat of using weapons of any kind on IU property.
• Consistent with the First Amendment, IU may exclude anyone whose speech includes or incites specific threats of physical violence or destruction of property by the speaker.