Connor Murnane

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Connor Murnane

Connor Murnane

@ConnorMurnane

Campus Advocacy Chief of Staff @TheFIREorg | Opinions are my own

Washington, DC Katılım Ağustos 2011
1K Takip Edilen906 Takipçiler
Connor Murnane retweetledi
FIRE
FIRE@TheFIREorg·
Boston University administrators are ordering faculty to remove flags from their office windows. One professor came to campus to find a university employee had entered her office and taken down her LGBT Pride flags, with a note saying outward-facing displays aren’t allowed.
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Connor Murnane
Connor Murnane@ConnorMurnane·
Members of the Penn community have some options to provide feedback. Check it out here: #for-comment-proposed-revisions-to-the-guidelines-on-open-expression" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">almanac.upenn.edu/#for-comment-p…
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Connor Murnane
Connor Murnane@ConnorMurnane·
Colleges can protect order without undermining free expression. Penn is closer than it was. It’s still not completely there. Before this policy is final, it should fix the vague harassment language, guarantee some real space for spontaneous protest, and clean up the other remaining problems in the draft.
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Connor Murnane
Connor Murnane@ConnorMurnane·
Penn also still gives itself a lot of discretion on security assessments, added security measures, and delaying or relocating events. Safety matters. But standards for burdening events should be clear, neutral, and transparent.
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Connor Murnane
Connor Murnane@ConnorMurnane·
Credit where it’s due. @Penn’s proposed open expression revisions are better than the temporary standards it adopted last year and they appear to have heard at least some of the criticism. 🧵
The Daily Pennsylvanian@dailypenn

After nearly two years of discussion and debate, Penn published its first draft of revised Guidelines on Open Expression on Tuesday, outlining initial proposals for policies and procedures that will govern demonstrations and protests on campus. thedp.com/7ded4f6f-7e32-…

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Connor Murnane
Connor Murnane@ConnorMurnane·
The other major issue is the ban on expression that is “threatening, harassing, severe, or pervasive” enough to limit or deny someone’s benefit from or participation in education or work. That is too vague. Universities should ban true threats and unlawful harassment, not write broad rules that can be stretched against protected speech.
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Connor Murnane
Connor Murnane@ConnorMurnane·
But Penn still hasn’t gotten everything right. The biggest problem is spontaneous protest. The policy still requires advance registration for a wide range of events in well-trafficked campus spaces. A university serious about free expression should clearly allow peaceful, nondisruptive, in-the-moment protest.
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Connor Murnane
Connor Murnane@ConnorMurnane·
There’s other good stuff in here too. The proposed Executive Director of Open Expression and Open Expression Observer program could, if administered well, help protect speech rights in practice and not just on paper.
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Connor Murnane
Connor Murnane@ConnorMurnane·
The draft drops the old language banning merely “advocating violence,” which was a real free speech problem. It also keeps the ban on protesters exercising a heckler’s veto over speakers they oppose.
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Connor Murnane
Connor Murnane@ConnorMurnane·
Catholic University blocked a student group’s event on antisemitism unless it included opposing viewpoints. Now, the school says it is “re-evaluating” its event and speaker approval process. But @CatholicUniv still won’t address the real issue: requiring student groups to host speakers they didn’t choose is compelled speech and blatantly contradicts its stated commitment to free expression. @theFIREorg is awaiting a response.
Connor Murnane tweet media
FIRE@TheFIREorg

Catholic University denied a student group’s event on antisemitism for not including speakers on “both sides” of the issue. Forcing a group to host a speaker they oppose is textbook compelled speech, and FIRE is pushing back.

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Connor Murnane
Connor Murnane@ConnorMurnane·
Manchester Community College told a student to move his TPUSA table away from the main entrance because it was “political.” When a senior administrator later justified that decision by citing college policy, they ran into a basic problem: at a public college, policy cannot override the First Amendment. @ManchesterCC has until April 1 to respond to @theFIREorg’s concerns.
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Connor Murnane retweetledi
Nico Perrino
Nico Perrino@NicoPerrino·
I'm concerned about this verdict and the overall trend of treating speech platforms as addictive — and therefore dangerous — products. Also, the verdict diminishes the responsibility parents have to raise healthy kids. For example: "Kaley says she began using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9 and told the jury she was on social media 'all day long' as a child." Where were the parents?
The Associated Press@AP

BREAKING: A jury in Los Angeles finds Instagram and YouTube liable in a landmark social media addiction trial. apnews.com/article/social…

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Connor Murnane retweetledi
FIRE
FIRE@TheFIREorg·
WEBINAR: Faculty today face growing uncertainty about what they can say, teach, and research. But FIRE is here to help. Join @graham_piro, @Zach2Greenberg, and Sean Stevens for a FREE webinar on the biggest threats to academic freedom in 2026, plus a live Q&A. Register now! 🔥
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Joe Devore
Joe Devore@z3r0_burn·
@TheFIREorg It's a private school. There is no 1A violation here. They can set their own policies on their property with their staff, students, and visitors.
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Connor Murnane retweetledi
FIRE
FIRE@TheFIREorg·
Catholic University denied a student group’s event on antisemitism for not including speakers on “both sides” of the issue. Forcing a group to host a speaker they oppose is textbook compelled speech, and FIRE is pushing back.
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Connor Murnane retweetledi
FIRE
FIRE@TheFIREorg·
The Empire State has always been a home for protest — until now. Proposals being debated in Albany would criminalize peaceful protests at thousands of locations across the state. New Yorkers could face up to 364 days in jail for a first offense.
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Connor Murnane retweetledi
Robert Shibley
Robert Shibley@rshibley·
Looks like U of Florida has shut down its College Republicans chapter based on some combination of vague antisemitism charges and confusion over who's the boss of College Republicans in FL. Seems just a bit precipitous at this point... 1/
Anthony Sabatini@AnthonySabatini

JUST FILED a lawsuit on behalf of my client, the @UFCR University of Florida College Republicans, for First Amendment retaliation under 42 USC Section 1983–against @UF. The University of Florida punitively deactivated and shut down the UFCR, in response to alleged viewpoints expressed by a member of UFCR, and in an effort to silence the club and chill its future speech. After the deactivation, UF sought to justify its unlawful decision by providing a false pretext as a basis, asserting that it had acted at the behest of a third-party group, the Florida Federation of College Republicans (FFCR), a group with no authority over or affiliation with UFCR. No university policy, rule, or law provides UF a lawful basis for the deactivation. We are seeking an emergency preliminary injunction. 

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Keşfet

@Penn @CatholicUniv @theFIREorg @ManchesterCC @graham_piro @Zach2Greenberg @z3r0_burn @TheFIREorg