Our First Amendment Considerations
It is important to note that not every bias incident which may be offensive to an individual or group will be considered to be discriminatory conduct and/or a violation of system or institutional policy. The Bias Support & Education Team encourages members of our campus community to the UW System Civil Dialogue website, and the UW System Board of Regents Policy Document 4-21.
While the First Amendment protects free expression of ideas that may be offensive, it does not mean the University condones, supports, or agree with all ideas expressed, particularly those that are contrary to our core values. The Bias Support & Education Team documents and tracks these incidents in order to:
- Provide support to individual(s) impacted by bias incidents
- Develop programming and training opportunities to address bias
- Detect emerging patterns of biased activity
- Publish aggregated data about these incident rates and trends
- Make recommendations to campus leadership for the prevention of future bias incidents
Of course, people who commit hate crimes, or any crime thereof, that are not protected under the First Amendment may be subject to disciplinary proceedings or prosecution. Possible examples include:
- physical assault
- vandalism
- trespassing
- harassment
- incitement
- genuine threats of violence