Many campuses employ codes of conduct, hazing policies and “free speech” zones in an effort to keep order and regulation on campus- these codes actually infringe upon student rights.

While NC is one of 44 states that has a hazing law, which calls for the prevention of “physical injury” as a part of initiation into any group, universities take it further.

On the campus of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, the hazing policy is being enforced. Much of the wording in the hazing law is overly broad and can be interpreted in many different ways. The law itself mentions banning any activities that cause “mental…discomfort, embarrassment…or ridicule.” Such words are broad and can meet many definitions. They are also words of perception- what one person may consider “mental discomfort” or “ridicule” may not hold true for others.

Free speech zones are widely accepted on college campuses. UNC-Chapel Hill’s Chancellor Jim Moeser recently created a policy to restrict sit-in’s between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

UNC-Pembroke has two “zones” in which students and members of the public may request for use. 48 hours in advance. The request form must be approved by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.

The policy, outlined on the website and in the student handbook, lists a students “right of dissent”, even giving examples to “sugges[t] the limits of acceptable dissent.” Noise, the policy states, is acceptable “especially if reaction against the speaker is similar in kind and degree to the reaction in his or her favor.”

Forms of unacceptable dissent include any talking that may interfere with the audience’s ability to hear the speaker.

The policy also states that it is acceptable for students to symbolically protest, picket and hand out literature. But, what if it were not acceptable?

“As state agents, all public colleges and universities are legally bound to respect the constitutional rights of their students,” reads the Foundation for Individual Rights Education (FIRE) website. “Many institutions promise a free marketplace of ideas but then deliver selective censorship once the first tuition check is cashed.”