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The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects free speech of members of the university community and their ability to speak on matters of public concern as private citizens:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Through the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, the First Amendment’s protections were made effective against governmental entities such as the state and public institutions of higher education.

The First Amendment protects not only speech, but also expressive activities. The courts have determined that expressive activities include flag-burning, burning draft cards, political cartoons, protest armbands, political buttons and slogans on T-shirts. Speech involving issues of public concern, such as political and social matters, have the most protection. But while some activity—such as burning a cross—may be protected as First Amendment speech, it could nevertheless be subject to criminal prosecution if it violates criminal laws that do not involve the content of the speech.

Not all speech is protected. Speech that does not fall under the protection of the First Amendment includes fighting words, harassment, obscenity, incitement to imminent lawless action or true threats. The courts determine on a case-by-case basis whether speech falls within one of these exceptions and judge speech using high thresholds that err on the side of protecting speech. In fact, the Supreme Court has upheld freedom of speech even in the face of a speaker’s utmost efforts to offend, as illustrated by the following examples.

• A Ku Klux Klansman’s racist, inflammatory speech at a Klan rally was held by the Supreme Court to fall within the protections of the First Amendment because it did not advocate imminent lawless action.
• A cross burned on the lawn of a Black family was held by the Supreme Court to be protected speech.
• The Supreme Court upheld the decision to allow neo-Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois, a town that, at the time, had the highest concentration of Holocaust survivors in the United States.
• The Westboro Baptist Church’s pattern of attending military funerals and engaging in virulent anti-gay speech was held by the Supreme Court to be protected under the First Amendment.

No, there is no First Amendment hate speech exception. Hate speech has no definition in case law, but it is generally understood to mean hurtful and offensive speech targeted against certain groups and individuals.

Very recently the United States Supreme Court held that the Patent and Trademark Office could not deny trademark registrations on the grounds that they were offensive, including that the proposed trademark contained racial slurs. “We have said time and again that the public expression of ideas may not be prohibited merely because the ideas are themselves offensive to some of their hearers. . . . Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful; but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express the thought that we hate.”

At ����������, we will make efforts to promote a culture of respect and civility, but we also recognize the constitutional boundaries that protect offensive speech.

The university has adopted a policy and procedures on Campus Use of University Facilities (“the CUUF policy”). The CUUF policy states the university’s time, place and manner restrictions governing speech in public areas of the campus.

Under both Colorado law and university policy, enrolled students have broad expressive rights in generally accessible open outdoor spaces. The CUUF policy designates these open outdoor areas as “student forums.”

Student forums are generally available to students for speech and expressive purposes, provided that those activities are consistent with the CUUF policy. Most important, while students are welcome and entitled to express themselves in student forums across campus, they may not do so in a way that disrupts scheduled events, impedes core university functions or the flow of traffic, or endangers other people or property.