At the University of Oregon, we foster a supportive environment where free expression and open dialogue thrive.
Access resources that promote safety, well-being, and community engagement, while understanding your First Amendment rights and responsibilities.
Understanding Free Expression
at the UO
This informative video explores the rights and responsibilities of free expression at the University of Oregon, including UO's commitment to free expression and important campus policies. Learn about the limits of protected speech and how to exercise your rights while respecting others in a safe, inclusive environment.
Safety and Planning
Our educational mission is our highest priority, which requires that we focus on safety and well-being of our students and campus community. While the university is committed to protecting the safety of members of the campus community, it is also committed to maintaining an environment that fosters free expression, and to taking appropriate action to prevent and address discrimination and harassment.
University Preparation and Response
The university has a Demonstration Education & Safety Team whose charge is to plan for and observes events to balance free expression with safety while also minimizing disruption to university operations. The team engages with organizers to remind them of our policies and procedures, observes events, and takes appropriate action as necessary.
Event Planning and Management
Organized demonstrations and protests should follow university policies and procedures for the safety of participants and community members.
Key resources to planning events and meeting expectations include:
Personal Safety and Support
As an institution, we strive to have a campus community where faculty, staff, and students feel comfortable and welcome.
The University of Oregon has multiple support options for students, faculty, and staff.
Support and Assistance Resources
Information and Sources on Free Expression
Frequently Asked Questions
What resources are available to faculty, staff or students who need support?
The University of Oregon provides many resources for community members.
Visit the Support and Assistance webpage for more information.
How does the university monitor safety on campus?
Our educational mission is our highest priority, which requires that we focus on the safety and wellbeing of our students and campus community.
The university has a Demonstration Education & Safety Team whose charge is to plan for and monitor events to balance free expression with safety, while also minimizing disruption to university operations. This team actively engages and monitors events and situations.
The University of Oregon has its own police department that may be called upon to engage in scenarios where illegal activities take place or if there are threats to physical safety.
What is the difference between protected and unprotected speech?
Even though the First Amendment uses the word speech, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that it protects a wide variety of expression. This includes what is known as “pure speech,” meaning the spoken word. The First Amendment also protects expression that is written and expression that is typed and published. It protects symbolic speech or expressive conduct (like burning a flag), and it protects speech plus conduct (like peaceably assembling to engage in protests and boycotts).
There are also a limited number of narrow exceptions to what the First Amendment protects. Under Oregon's Constitution, free expression rights are even more expansive, so the list of exceptions in Oregon is even smaller.
The exceptions, where the government can regulate, include situations where immediate violence is provoked, or false statements of fact are spread to injure someone's reputation. They include the following categories:
- Incitement to imminent lawless action*
- Illegal activity, including perjury
- Some forms of theft, forgery and fraud
- Targeted harassment
- True threats
- Child pornography
- Non-expressive conduct
Whether speech is protected may also depend on the context. While a student may have a right to protest in a public space where protests are allowed, that same student does not have the right to protest in a way that disrupts a classroom or impedes access to university facilities.
* Advocacy of illegal action at some indefinite point in the future is not the same as unprotected incitement.
What is hate speech, and is it protected by law?
Hate speech may be offensive and hurtful; however, it is generally protected by the First Amendment.
One common definition of hate speech is “any form of expression through which speakers intend to vilify, humiliate or incite hatred against a group or a class of persons on the basis of race, religion, skin color, sexual identity, gender identity, ethnicity, disability or national origin.”
Relying on the First Amendment, courts have restricted the ability to regulate or eliminate hate speech on college campuses. However, universities also have an obligation to create a safe, inclusive learning environment for all members of the campus community. In fact, universities must address harassment that creates a hostile environment for members of the campus community. Thus, although hate speech, in isolation, may receive constitutional protection, any expression that constitutes a true threat, incitement to imminent lawless action, targeted discriminatory harassment or defamation can be punished by UO for those reasons.
What if I feel unsafe?
The physical safety of our students, faculty, and staff is paramount.
We encourage anyone who feels unsafe, experiences bias, or other issues to Report Concerns to the university. The University of Oregon has its own police department that may be called upon to engage in scenarios where illegal activities take place or if there are immediate, specific, and targeted threats to physical safety.
As an institution, we strive to have a campus community where faculty, staff, and students feel comfortable and welcome. The university has multiple support options for students, faculty, and staff. This includes the Office of the Dean of Students, the Care and Advocacy Program, the Counseling Center, and the Duck Nest.
Additional information about how students can receive support Is available on the Dean of Students webpage.
Students may also make an appointment with a Care and Advocacy Program team member.