Northern Illinois University
A red light university has at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech. Read more here.
| Public or Private: | Public | |
| Federal Circuit: | Seventh Circuit | |
| Head of Institution: | President John G Peters Northern Illinois University Office of the President Lowden Hall 301 Dekalb, IL 60115 815-753-9500 jpeters@niu.edu |
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| Website: | http://www.niu.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)
Student Code of Conduct: Abuse (Physical, Verbal, and Threats) 10-11
bullying and/or other conduct which threatens or endangers the mental or physical health
or safety of any person or causes reasonable apprehension of such harm.
Student Code of Conduct: Sexual Misconduct 10-11
conduct of sexual nature that expressly or implicitly imposes conditions upon,
threatens, interferes with, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or demeaning
environment for an individual’s: 1) Academic pursuits
2) University employment
3) Participation in activities sponsored by the University or by organizations or
groups related to the University;
4) Opportunities to benefit from other aspects of University life.
Student Code of Conduct: Harassment 10-11
wrongfully attack another person. This communication may be either in person or
through any form of electronic communication. The unwanted communication must be
objectively offensive to a reasonable person and occur at least three (3) times before it
may be considered actionable harassment. For example, the unwanted communications
may have caused the recipient of the unwanted communication to fear for his/her safety
or for the safety of a family member or close friend.
Non-Discrimination/Harassment Policy 10-11
stereotypes, jokes, or insults regarding the employee's/student's age, poor health, and/or
medical conditions, forced retirement, and the use of any derogatory terms regarding age.
decisions are based upon or biased because the employee's/student's sexual orientation is or
is perceived to be heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Examples of conduct
prohibited by this policy includes, but is not limited to, offensive language, mockery, verbal
threats, damage to personal property, and physical violence or harassment.
decisions are based upon the employee's/student's race. Conduct prohibited by this policy
includes, but is not limited to, the use of racial slurs, graffiti, or ethnic jokes that create a
hostile or abusive working environment.
Typically, a hostile environment is created only when the discrimination or harassment is
severe and alters the conditions of the victim's employment/academic environment. The
occasional improper comment and/or joke, generally, will not create such a hostile
environment and/or be indicative of racial discrimination unless such conduct is severe,
pervasive, and/or occurs on a frequent basis.
Non-discrimination/Harassment Policy 10-11
* Unwanted or unwelcome;
* Sexual in nature or related to the sex or gender of the employee/student;
* Sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the recipient's employment or education.
Examples of sexual harassment in employment or education include, but are not limited to, uninvited sexual comments or innuendo, oral, written, or electronic communications that are sexually explicit in nature or sexually explicit questions, jokes, or anecdotes about gender-specific traits.
Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility (Learn More)
Housing and Dining Policies and Procedures: Community Living 10-11
Internet Usage Policies
Acceptable Use Policy 10-11
Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Housing and Dining: Responding to Bias Related Incident 10-11
Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Office of Community Standards & Student Conduct: Policy Concerning Demonstrations 10-11
freedom of speech, peaceable assembly, petition, and association.
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 June 2011. 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.

