Methodology

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Section 1 – University policies
Section 2 – University practices
Section 3 – Student Union policies
Section 4 – Student Union practices
How past conduct affects current grades

Section 1 – University Policies

A | The university has all four of the following factors:

• The university has a clear and unequivocal commitment to free speech on campus, set out in the university’s mission, statement on academic freedom, or other policy documents;
• The university has no express or implied “speech code” that prohibits or restricts speech on grounds of it being “offensive,” “discriminatory,” “disrespectful,” “inappropriate”, “triggering”, a “micro-aggression,” etc., and the university does not impose or create so-called “safe spaces” where speech is restricted.
• The university does not provide funding or other resources to groups, departments, committees, commissions or other bodies that engage in ideological advocacy (e.g. promotion of vague and ambiguous concepts such as “diversity,” and “inclusion”)
• The university has an anti-disruption policy which prohibits students (and other people) from blocking, obstructing, disrupting or interrupting speech (e.g. events, displays) on campus.

B | The university has three of these four factors.

C | The university has two of these four factors.

D | The university has only one of these four factors.

F | The university has none of these four factors.

Section 2 – University Practices

A | The university permits controversial and offensive expression by:

• rejecting demands to cancel events or speaking engagements;
• providing adequate and effective security to ensure that speakers, displays, debates and other events are not blocked, obstructed or interrupted, and doing so without imposing security fees on those who seek to express their opinions peacefully on campus
• Enforcing its own Code of Student Conduct and other policies that prohibit the disruption of speech on campus, by disciplining those who engage in disruptive behaviour
• publicly speaking out against censorship perpetrated by the student union (in cases where the student union has, for example, denied club status to a student group on the basis of its beliefs)
• having refrained from censorship of expression during the past four academic years.

B | The university’s commitment to free speech has not been tested by having to defend the expression of unpopular speech on campus.  The university’s policies (see Section 1, above) have received a grade of A or B and therefore provide sufficiently clear guidance to officials and administrators to stand up for campus free speech rights.

C | The university’s commitment to free speech has not been tested by having to defend the expression of unpopular speech on campus.  The university’s policies (see Section 1, above) have received a grade of C or D and therefore do not provide sufficiently clear guidance to officials and administrators to stand up for campus free speech rights.

D | The university has not censored speech in any way, but the university failed to speak out against censorship perpetrated by the student union (in cases where the student union has censored speech). A grade of D will also be earned if the University has actively censored speech on campus (thereby earning a grade of F), but has reversed, rescinded or apologized for its actions within a reasonably short period of time after the censorship occurrence, during the same academic year.

F | A university earns the grade of F by doing one or more of the following:

• the university has denied equal access to rooms, facilities or other spaces on campus, based on the controversial or offensive content of the expression of a group or individual;
• the university has charged students or other people with offences (e.g. non-academic misconduct; trespassing) solely because of the content of their peaceful expression, in the absence of any violations of university rules or policies;
• the university has imposed security fees or other restrictions on groups or individuals because the content of their speech is controversial or offensive;
• the university has condoned the obstruction, blocking, disruption or interruption of peaceful events on campus (e.g. speakers; debates; displays, etc.) by failing to provide adequate and effective security;
• the university has failed to discipline students who engage in the obstruction, blocking or interruption of peaceful events or displays on campus;

Section 3 – Student Union Policies

A | The student union earns an A if all of the following are in place:

• The student union’s mission, constitution, or other policy documents include an express commitment to free speech on campus;
• The student union has no express or implied “speech code” that prohibits expression because it is “offensive,” “discriminatory,” “disrespectful,” “inappropriate”, “creating a negative environment”, etc. The student union rejects “safe space”; “trigger warnings” and “micro-aggressions”;
• The student union’s club policies in regard to club certification, club funding, and resources provide for the equal treatment of all campus clubs, regardless of the club’s beliefs, opinions, or philosophy; clubs can protect their mission, vision and integrity by limiting membership to students who share the club’s beliefs, opinions and philosophy.
• The student union’s rules and regulations for elections and referenda do not impose restrictions on campaign speech and literature, and do not empower elections officers to censor speech (whether directly or indirectly);
• The student union does not take or adopt political positions on provincial, federal or international issues (e.g. Israel/Palestine) that are not directly related to post-secondary education.

B | The student union has four of these five factors.

C | The student union has three of these five factors.

D | The student union has two of these five factors.

F | The student union has only one, or none, of these five factors.

Section 4 – Student Union Practices

A | The student union earns a grade of A if it has actively defended the expression of controversial or offensive opinion on campus by:

• rejecting demands to cancel speakers, debates and other events, and
• speaking out against university actions that suppress free speech rights, and
• treating all campus clubs equally in regard to club certification, club funding, and allocation of resources to campus clubs, regardless of the club’s beliefs, opinions, or philosophy, and
• refraining from censorship during the past four academic years.

B | The student union’s commitment to free speech has not been tested by having to defend the expression of offensive speech, or by needing to oppose university actions that suppress free speech rights.  The student union’s policies (see Section 3, above) have received a grade of ‘A’ or ‘B’ and therefore provide sufficiently clear guidance to student union executives to stand up for campus free speech rights.

C | The student union’s commitment to free speech has not been tested by having to defend the expression of offensive speech, or by needing to oppose university actions that suppress free speech rights.  The student union’s policies (see Section 3, above) have received a grade of ‘C’ or ‘D’ and therefore do not provide clear guidance to student union executives to stand up for campus free speech rights.

D | The student union itself has not censored speech, but it has failed to speak publicly in support of campus free speech in cases where the university has engaged in censorship.  A grade of D will also be earned if the student union has actively censored protected speech on campus (which would earn an F grade), but the student union has reversed, rescinded or apologized for its actions within a reasonably short period of time after the censorship occurrence.

F | The student union has actively censored expression by doing one or more of the following:

• denying equal access to rooms, spaces, funding or other resources to an individual or campus club based on the contents of the expression being offensive, and/or based on belief, opinion or philosophy;
• refusing to certify a campus club based on its beliefs, opinions or ideology;
• cancelling, or trying to cancel, events discussing controversial subject matter;
• censoring speech during a referendum or election campaign;
• using student union resources (e.g. money, advertising, public promotion) in support of a policy position not directly related to post-secondary education (e.g. BDS campaign in relation to Israel/Palestine), or to support groups, departments, committees, commissions or other bodies that engage in ideological advocacy (e.g. promotion of vague and ambiguous concepts such as “diversity,” and “inclusion”)

How past conduct affects current grades

The authors recognize that one incident of censorship can have ripple effects for years thereafter, creating a “chilled climate” on campus where students, faculty and guests fear reprimands or other negative consequences simply for expressing their opinions on campus.  As this “chilled climate” lingers, so should the D or F grade, up to a point.  Where a university or student union has censored speech in the past four years, and has not rescinded, reversed or apologized for such behaviour, the long-lasting impact of that behaviour will be recognized by allowing only for a gradual return to a higher grade.  The higher grade can be earned as per the stated “policies” and “practices” criteria set out above, but only if the censorship is not repeated or continued, and only if there are no new, further or different acts of censorship.

For example, if a university has shut down a speaking event in the 2012-2013 school year, and it does not publicly apologize for or otherwise repudiate its decision within that same school year, it will earn an F.  In the absence of a public repudiation of its conduct, that university can potentially earn a D in 2014, a C in 2015, a B in 2016, and so on, provided there are no other or further censorship incidents, and provided that the university otherwise meets the “policy” and “practices” criteria set out in the Campus Freedom Index.  If the university cancels a speaking invitation in 2012-2013, and apologizes for this in the same year, this incident will earn the university a D instead of an F, and the incident will not have a negative impact on the university’ grades in subsequent years.  Conversely, where a university or student union has defended free expression and thus earns a grade of A, this grade will gradually slide one grade-point each year following the act.

In cases where the university or student union insists on continuing its censorship, either by continuing to enforce a past decision or by defending censorship in a court action, the university or student union will continue to earn an F each year until the censorship is no longer in force, or until the court action has been concluded (by settlement or by the rendering of a judgment).