|
STUDENT
DEVELOPMENT
Social Policies and Regulations:
Freedom of Expression and Disorderly Behavior
"Liberal learning requires for its highest effectiveness
an environment of free inquiry in which the whole range of human
aspiration and achievement, of knowledge and culture, can be subjected
to searching scrutiny. Liberal learning believes that people should
be free to construct and criticize without restraint of official
dogmatism. Liberal learning specifically denies that if an idea
is unpopular it is therefore suspect, or that if an idea is popular
it is therefore true, and trusts instead in those canons of discrimination
that are given in the Western tradition of historical scholarship
and ethics.
Standing
self-consciously within this tradition of liberal learning, Kalamazoo
College claims for its teachers and students the freedom to engage
in the careful and critical examination of the history of ideas;
the freedom to create, to hold, to advocate and to act on behalf
of ideas that express their own convictions and integrity; the
freedom to engage in the controversy that an unfettered examination
and expression of ideas generates; and the freedom to invite to
campus representatives of points of view that are important to
an informed understanding of the conflict of ideas in our own
time."
For
the "Academic Freedom" section of the College Catelogue,
2004-05, please go to http://www.kzoo.edu/regist/catalog/cat0304/P7-10.pdf
and scroll down to page 10.
Kalamazoo
College supports the rights of individuals or groups to raise
concerns via speech, performance, peaceable protest or demonstration.
The free exchange and discussion of ideas, including unpopular
or controversial ideas, is central to the purpose of the academy
and our education. However, the right to protest and demonstrate
must be balanced with the right of individuals to pursue an education
free from disruption, a concept no less central to the academy
than the discussion or debate of provocative or challenging ideas
or positions.
Learning
to balance these two rights and hold them in tension is a part
of what is intended by the first three principles of our Honor
System: Taking Responsibility for Personal Behavior (1), Respecting
Others (2), and Nurturing Independent Thought (3). Within its
lawful authority to do so, the College will protect the right
of any member of the College community, or any invited speaker
or artist, to speak or perform, to demonstrate or protest, or
to communicate with or hear others in the community as together
we seek to balance freedom of expression with the right to listen
and be heard. (See Honor System.)
When
the conduct of an individual or group infringes upon the right and
freedom of others to demonstrate or protest, or to avail themselves
of educational opportunities or resources offered by Kalamazoo College,
such conduct may constitute cause for action under the College's
Student Conduct Code. The following representative actions, including,
but not limited to the list below, are grounds for action under
the Student Conduct Code and bring to bear the full range of sanctions
available to the College.
- Violent
action, or advocating or inciting violence against others
- Occupation
of a building, office, classroom or other facility to the exclusion
of others
- Disruption
of the educational environment, including classes, functions
or events
- Detention
of a person or persons to inhibit participation
- Blocking
free access to facilities or events
- Damage
to College or personal property
- Failure
to cooperate with College authorities maintaining or restoring
order
Policy Menu:
Social
| Academic
| Residential
| Parking
| Study
Abroad | Career
Development Internship
|