Speakers from Off-Campus and Freedom of Expression and Dissent

Board of Regents Policy Manual 2.2
Adopted: September 12, 1996

Applicability

This policy applies to all speakers at the University who are not affiliated with the University of New Mexico, whether or not sponsored by members of the campus community.

Policy

The University encourages free inquiry on the campus. It has confidence in the ability of its students, faculty, and staff to critically evaluate all ideas that may be expressed at the University by speakers from off campus.

As an educational institution, the University expects that presentations of speakers in University facilities will be of educational value, and that they will be conducted in an orderly manner. The responsibility for determining the educational value of invited speakers rests ultimately upon the group authorized to extend the initiation. No University organization should accept speakers imposed upon it by any outside agency or individual, nor should an organization lend its entitlement to invite a speaker merely as an accommodation to anyone.

University facilities normally will not be made available for non-affiliated or non-sponsored speakers. Exceptions will be made for candidates for state and national political office and for speakers who address closed audiences of organizations that use University facilities on an invitational or rental basis. This policy is not intended to restrict the use of University facilities for meetings of a professional or academic nature arranged as part of the University's regular functions.

Speakers approved in accordance with University procedures should be allowed free expression of their views. Members of the audience with divergent points of view should permit such speakers to be heard without harassment.