1. Noncommercial expressive activities protected under the provisions of this chapter include but are not limited to any lawful oral or written means by which members of the campus community may communicate ideas to one another, including but not limited to all forms of peaceful assembly, protests, speeches including by invited speakers, distribution of literature, circulating petitions, and publishing, including publishing or streaming on an internet site, or audio or video recorded in outdoor areas of campus.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 261H.3

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Campus community: means students, administrators, faculty, and staff at a public institution of higher education and guests invited to a public institution of higher education by the institution's students, administrators, faculty, or staff. See Iowa Code 261H.1
  • Internet: means the federated international system that is composed of allied electronic communication networks linked by telecommunication channels, that uses standardized protocols, and that facilitates electronic communication services, including but not limited to use of the world wide web; the transmission of electronic mail or messages; the transfer of files and data or other electronic information; and the transmission of voice, image, and video. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Outdoor areas of campus: means the generally accessible outside areas of campus where students, administrators, faculty, and staff at a public institution of higher education are commonly allowed, such as grassy areas, walkways, or other similar common areas and does not include areas outside health care facilities including both stand-alone facilities and mixed-use facilities that are embedded within another facility, veterinary medicine facilities, a facility or outdoor area used by the institution's athletics program or teams, or other outdoor areas where access is restricted to a majority of the campus community. See Iowa Code 261H.1
  • Public institution of higher education: means a community college established under chapter 260C or an institution of higher learning governed by the state board of regents. See Iowa Code 261H.1
  • Student: means an individual who is enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis at a public institution of higher education. See Iowa Code 261H.1
  • Student organization: means a group officially recognized at or officially registered by a public institution of higher education, or a group seeking such official recognition or official registration, comprised of students who are admitted and in attendance at the public institution of higher education, and who receive, or are seeking to receive, student organization benefits or privileges through the public institution of higher education. See Iowa Code 261H.1
  • United States: includes all the states. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. A member of the campus community who wishes to engage in noncommercial expressive activity in outdoor areas of campus shall be permitted to do so freely, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, and as long as the member’s conduct is not unlawful, does not impede others’ access to a facility or use of walkways, and does not disrupt the functioning of the public institution of higher education, subject to the protections of subsection 1. The public institution of higher education may designate other areas of campus available for use by the campus community according to institutional policy, but in all cases access to designated areas of campus must be granted on a viewpoint-neutral basis within the bounds of established principles of the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
 3. A public institution of higher education shall not deny benefits or privileges available to student organizations based on the viewpoint of a student organization or the expression of the viewpoint of a student organization by the student organization or its members protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In addition, a public institution of higher education shall not deny any benefit or privilege to a student organization based on the student organization’s requirement that the leaders of the student organization agree to and support the student organization’s beliefs, as those beliefs are interpreted and applied by the organization, and to further the student organization’s mission.
 4. This section shall not be interpreted as limiting the right of student expression in a counter demonstration held in an outdoor area of campus as long as the conduct at the counter demonstration is not unlawful, does not materially and substantially prohibit the free expression rights of others in an outdoor area of campus or disrupt the functioning of the public institution of higher education, and does not impede others’ access to a facility or use of walkways, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that are consistent with established principles of the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
 5. This chapter shall not be interpreted as preventing public institutions of higher education from prohibiting, limiting, or restricting expression that the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States does not protect, including but not limited to a threat of serious harm and expression directed or likely directed to provoke imminent unlawful actions; or from prohibiting harassment, including but not limited to expression which is so severe, pervasive, and subjectively and objectively offensive that the expression unreasonably interferes with an individual’s access to educational opportunities or benefits provided by a public institution of higher education.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 261H Contents