Student Handbook: Policies & Regulations- Free Speech and Assembly Policy

Relevant Excerpt

The University of Maine is committed to free and open inquiry and expression in all matters. It guarantees all members of the university community the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge and learn. With the exception of certain limitations (time, place, manner) on that freedom which are necessary to the functioning of the university, the University of Maine fully respects and supports the freedom of all members of the university community to discuss, debate, write, assemble and/or demonstrate regarding any issue or problem.

The ideas of members of the university community will frequently and naturally conflict, but it is not the appropriate role of the University to shield individuals from opinions and ideas that could be unwelcomed, disagreeable, or even acutely or deeply offensive. Although civility and mutual respect are greatly valued and all community members should take responsibility for maintaining a climate of mutual respect, concerns about civility and mutual respect can never be used as a justification for closing off the discussion of thoughts and ideas no matter how offensive or disagreeable those ideas and thoughts might be to some members of the community. It is for individual members of the university community, not for the university as an institution, to respond to such ideas for themselves, and to take action not by seeking to suppress speech, but to openly and vigorously contest the
ideas they oppose with more speech.