Yellow Light School

Whitman College

Yellow light colleges and universities are those institutions with at least one ambiguous policy that too easily encourages administrative abuse and arbitrary application. Read more here.

Public or Private: Private
Federal Circuit: Ninth Circuit
Head of Institution: President George Bridges
Whitman College
Office of the President
Memorial 304
345 Boyer Ave
Walla Walla, WA 99362
509-527-5132
president@whitman.edu
Website: http://www.whitman.edu

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Do you have any information, updates, or changes regarding the policies at this institution? Let us know!

On this page, FIRE has excerpted policies that address speech and expression. You may download the full policy in .pdf form, below.

Restrictions on Expressive Rights

Harassment Policies (Learn More)

Green light: Student Handbook: Student Rights and Responsibilities- Sexual Misconduct Policy 12-13

Sexual harassment is a form of sexual misconduct. It is gender-based verbal or physical conduct that is so severe, pervasive or objectively offensive that it interferes with a student’s ability to benefit from the educational opportunities or activities of the College.
View full policy (PDF, 1201 KB).

Yellow light: Student Handbook: Student Rights and Responsibilities- Harassment 12-13

Covert or overt abuse, harassment, or intimidation of members of the college
community or others is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, harassment
on the basis of race, ethnic origin, disability, creed, gender, or sexual orientation.
View full policy (PDF, 1201 KB).

Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility (Learn More)

Yellow light: Student Handbook: Student Rights and Responsibilities- Disorderly Conduct 12-13

Lewd, indecent, obscene expressions or disorderly conduct ... is prohibited.
View full policy (PDF, 1201 KB).

Internet Usage Policies

Yellow light: Student Handbook: Student Rights and Responsibilities- Information Technology Policies 12-13

Activities that violate the Acceptable Use Policy include, but are not limited to, those in the following list:
...
Using electronic mail or other Information Technology resources to abuse, harass, or intimidate members of the college community and others on any basis including race, ethnic origin, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. Users are reminded that sexually suggestive materials displayed inappropriately in public places, the classroom, or the workplace may constitute sexual harassment.
View full policy (PDF, 1201 KB).

Policies on Bias and Hate Speech

Yellow light: Action Against Hate: Definitions 12-13

Hate incidents include, among other things, speech that is hate- or bias-motivated but is not a credible threat (like someone shouting an epithet out of the window of a passing car on a crowded street in the middle of the day), written hate statements that are not credibly threatening and are not vandalism, drawings that are not vandalism (for instance, something drawn on a chalkboard), and so on.
The key difference between hate crimes and hate incidents (or bias incidents - the two terms are often used interchangeably) is that hate crimes are acts included under hate crime laws and hate incidents are not. The motivation for both is the same - bias against a particular group of people - but hate incidents are not, technically, crimes. They are often covered under campus conduct rules; at Whitman, a hate incident may be addressed in this way if the perpetrator is a Whitman student, staff member, or faculty member.
View full policy (PDF, 97 KB).

Advertised Commitments to Free Expression

Green light policy: Student Handbook: Student Rights and Responsibilities- Statement of Rights 12-13

Every student has a right to conditions which are conducive to learning and favorable to the pursuit of higher education. These rights include freedom of speech, expression, and association ....
View full policy (PDF, 1201 KB).

NOTE: You must have Adobe Acrobat installed to view policies in PDF format.

The speech codes and policies above were last fully checked via internet and other research means by FIRE in September 2012. According to FIRE’s research the substantive policies are current at least until this date. Directory information, including the name of the president of the college or university, may have been updated more recently. If any policy has been revised, or if you believe that we are in error, please contact us.