Proposed Bias Policy Stirs Controversy at U. of Nevada at Las Vegas

by E Wayne Ross on May 5, 2009

The Chronicle News Blog: Proposed Bias Policy Stirs Controversy at U. of Nevada at Las Vegas

The University of Nevada at Las Vegas is revisiting a proposed policy dealing with bias and hate crimes in response to fears that it invites First Amendment violations, but faculty leaders there remain concerned that campus administrators will end up curtailing free speech.

The chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, James E. Rogers, urged UNLV officials to rewrite the proposed policy last week, after free-speech concerns were raised by faculty leaders, the state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, and editorials published in the Las Vegas Sun and the Las Vegas Review-Journal. A Sun report quoted Chancellor Rogers as saying he was “very, very uncomfortable” with the proposed policy, which he called “far too restrictive.”