SB 747

This bill establishes certain standards related to free speech and academic

freedom at University of Wisconsin System institutions and technical colleges. For

violation of these standards, a UW institution or technical college may become

ineligible for Wisconsin grant funding allocation and the Board of Regents of the UW

System or technical college district board may be subject to a civil cause of action.

If a UW institution or technical college loses its Wisconsin grant funding allocation,

it must replace the amount of each student's lost Wisconsin grant with the same

amount in institutional financial aid funded from administrative expense moneys.

First Amendment protections

Under the bill, a UW institution or technical college may not do any of the

following: 1) restrict noncommercial speech protected under the First Amendment;

2) maintain and enforce time, place, and manner restrictions on expressive activities

on the publicly accessible, open outdoor areas of its campus unless those restrictions

meet specified requirements; 3) designate any area of a campus a “free speech zone”

or otherwise create policies restricting noncommercial expressive activities to a

particular area of a campus; 4) charge fees for additional security based on the

anticipated content of speech or anticipated reaction to speech; or 5) sanction

individuals or groups for discriminatory harassment unless the speech is

unwelcome, targets its victim on the basis of a protected class under law, and is

demonstrably so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively bars

a student from receiving equal access to educational opportunities or benefits. The

bill also specifies that all of an institution's or technical college's indoor and outdoor

public areas are considered public forums. An institution or technical college must

make every reasonable effort to prevent protected speech and sanctioned events,

activities, and instruction from being disrupted.

The bill requires an institution or technical college to annually do all of the

following: 1) conduct a survey of all students and employees on First Amendment

rights, academic freedom, perceived political or other bias at the institution or

technical college, and whether campus culture promotes self-censorship; 2) submit

a report to the legislature detailing the results of this survey; and 3) provide all

students and employees with instruction in academic freedom, due process, and First

Amendment protections.

Academic freedom

Under the bill, an institution or technical college may not sanction an

individual on the basis of content or viewpoints expressed while the individual is

directly engaged in instruction, research, or service explicitly related to the

individual's role as a student or faculty member of the institution or technical college.

Penalties and Wisconsin grants

Under current law, the Wisconsin grant program, administered by the Higher

Educational Aids Board, provides grants to resident students enrolled in eligible