The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for respecting the Campus Community’s right to free speech and expressive activity on campus while maintaining CWI’s mission and operations.
The policy applies to all CWI students, student organizations, employees, invited guests, and visitors.
Benefit: The recognition, registration, or use of CWI facilities for meetings or speaking purposes, use of channels of communication, and use of funding sources that are available to Student Organizations.
CWI Property: Any premises or property owned, leased, or controlled by CWI, including all real and personal property, resources, funds, information systems, and college-owned or controlled websites and social media accounts.
Designated Public Forum: CWI property that has been opened up for use to certain groups or for the discussion of certain topics. Such restrictions may not be based upon the viewpoint of the speaker and must be reasonable in light of the purpose served by the forum. Examples of Designated Public Forums at CWI include, without limitation, interior bulletin boards, official CWI websites and social media pages, and reservable classrooms and meeting rooms.
Facilities Planning and Management Department (FPM): The CWI department with authority over all CWI physical/campus space.
Harassment: Expression that is unwelcome and so severe, pervasive, and subjectively and objectively offensive that a student is effectively denied equal access to educational opportunities or benefits provided by CWI.
Indoor Public Areas: Facilities that have been opened up to members of the general public for a specific campus function. Unless designated for a specific campus function, indoor areas of CWI property are not public areas.
Materially and Substantially Disruptive: Activity that results in any of the following:
Nonpublic Forum: CWI property that may be used only for its intended purpose and which may be subject to speech regulations reasonably related to the intended purpose. Examples of nonpublic forums at CWI include, without limitation, administrative office space and other facilities not subject to a facilities use request.
Open Public Forum: CWI property that has been opened for use to the Campus Community and Visitors for Expressive Activity. Restrictions on Expressive Activity in Open Public Forums may not be based on the viewpoint of the speaker but may be subject to content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions. Outdoor Areas, as defined in this policy are considered Open Public Forums.
Outdoor Areas: The generally accessible outside areas of campus where students, administrators, faculty, staff, and invited guests are commonly allowed, such as grassy areas, plazas, or other similar common areas, and does not include outdoor areas of campus to which access by the public is restricted. . Outdoor Areas do not include parking spaces or areas that are being used for CWI educational activities or are otherwise reserved.
Protected Expressive Activity: Noncommercial speech or conduct protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, including:
Student Organizations: An officially recognized group at CWI or a group seeking official recognition, comprised of admitted students that receive, or are seeking to receive, Benefits through CWI.
Visitors: Members of the general public who are not active members of CWI’s faculty, staff, or student population who may access public areas of campus.
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Idaho protect the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and freedom to petition the government for all people. CWI honors the Campus Community’s ability to exercise the First Amendment rights by establishing guidelines to promote free speech while maintaining a safe and operable campus.
As an institution of higher education, CWI has a particular responsibility to safeguard free speech rights. The United States Supreme Court, in Healy v. James, described public colleges as “peculiarly the marketplace of ideas,” where students learn to exercise the constitutional rights necessary to participate in this system of government and to tolerate others’ exercise of the same rights.
CWI also recognizes its’ responsibility to provide a secure learning environment that allows members of the community to express their views in ways that do not substantially disrupt the operations of CWI. Reasonable limitations may be placed on the time, place, and manner of free speech and expressive activities as deemed necessary by CWI in order to serve the interests of health and safety, prevent disruption of the educational process, and protect against the invasion of the rights of others.
The following restrictions apply to activities on or using CWI Property:
This policy does not permit activities which constitute the following:
Restrictions on all CWI Property:
CWI shall not create free speech zones or other designated outdoor areas of campus outside of which Protected Expressive Activity is prohibited. CWI may maintain and enforce reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions applicable to Outdoor Areas that are narrowly tailored in service of a significant institutional interest only when such restrictions employ content neutral and viewpoint neutral criteria and provide for ample alternative means of expression. The following non-exhaustive list includes Protected Expressive Activities in Outdoor Areas and applicable time, place, and manner restrictions:
All Protected Expressive Activities in Outdoor Areas are subject to the following time, place, and manner restrictions:
CWI reserves the right to limit facilities, classroom space, bulletin boards, and indoor and exterior walls for official CWI business. Such spaces are Nonpublic Forums and are subject to reasonable regulations.
Bulletin boards are Designated Public Forums subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that are not based on the viewpoint of the speaker. For additional guidance on the use of CWI Bulletin Boards, see OP 190 – Campus Posting Policy. Individual bulletin boards or dry-erase boards in classrooms and hallways not designated for College Use or otherwise designated by FPM do not constitute an Open Public Forum and shall be designated by faculty to post materials relevant to class instruction.
Facilities available for use by the Campus Community and Visitors constitute a Designated Public Forum and are subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that are not based on the content or the viewpoint of the speaker. A request to use facilities for Protected Expressive Activities, including invitations to speakers, shall be made in accordance with OP 120 – Facility Request Policy and shall meet the reasonable restrictions of the Designated Public Forum. No security fee shall be charged to a student or a student organization based on the content of the student’s or organization’s expression, the content of the expression of the student’s or organization’s invited guest, or the anticipated reaction to an invited guest’s expression.
No individual or organization not expressly authorized to represent CWI for the event or activity shall use the CWI name to imply official college sponsorship of the speaker in advertising or publicizing the event, except to identify the specific location of the event.
Distribution of written materials inside of CWI facilities shall not involve personally delivering materials to students within hallways, entryways, or classrooms and no person shall be compelled to accept any written material. However, written materials may be made available at tables that are reserved in interior spaces in accordance with the reservation process set forth in OP 120 – Facility Request Policy.
All CWI websites and social media pages constitute Designated Public Forums and are for the purpose of furthering the mission, vision, and core themes of CWI. CWI reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that does not relate to CWI business, programs, and/or services or which otherwise violates CWI policies or guidelines, including without limitation, Administrative Guidelines – Social Media.
Faculty, staff, students, and Student Organizations engaging in Protected Expressive Activities, whether on or off-campus, do so with the express understanding that the statements, opinions, and representations of the speaker(s) is not representative of CWI and that CWI neither endorses nor sponsors the expressive speech of any speaker not expressly recognized as representing CWI.
Conversely, CWI reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to determine the content of official CWI communications, sponsorship, messaging, and engagement.
Violations of this policy may result in one or more of the following:
Failure to enforce this policy in one instance does not waive CWI’s right to enforce it in any other instance.
A Campus Community member or Visitor who believes a CWI official has infringed on the ability to engage in Expressive Activities protected by this policy may report such complaint through the appropriate reporting processes available to employees and students. Any individual may report an alleged violation using CWI’s EthicsPoint Hotline at 844.310.3447 or at the link below.