A portion of The University of Tampa's student code of conduct is drawing criticism from a national civil liberties group that defends free speech on college campuses.
The nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) sent a letter to the office of the president on Sept. 11, questioning an amended university policy that bans student involvement in "unrecognized" groups on campus.
The letter called the policy "impermissibly vague, which could result in a chill on student free speech rights," and be applied to "an unlimited number of groups in the local Tampa community that interact with university students, including political, religious and social organizations."
The amended policy, which has since been removed from the UTampa website, added two paragraphs to the online student code of conduct.
The changes banned university students from "joining, maintaining active membership in, recruiting for, or providing material support to a registered student organization" that is in bad standing, or is operating "without University recognition or in circumvention of University oversight requirements," according to an archived UTampa webpage from Sept. 2.
On Aug. 28, the amended policy was cited in emails sent from the university's director of fraternity and sorority life, Armando Rijo, to two "unrecognized" Greek fraternities on the Tampa campus, Alpha Sigma Phi and Theta Chi.
In the emails shared with WUSF, the university directs both groups to immediately cease activities, like recruiting, operating and implying the group's affiliation with the university.
Gordy Heminger, the president and CEO of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, which has 171 chapters nationally, said he is "not aware of any other school, public or private, that has this type of a policy."
Before receiving the formal notice to cease operations as an "unrecognized" group, Heminger said they were denied university recognition but decided to continue meeting.
Despite the published revisions and emails referencing the new rules, a UTampa spokesperson initially said the policy changes were proposed and never enforced.
A statement later provided by the university said:
"The University of Tampa updates its policies annually on Aug. 1 and conducted a more comprehensive review of the Student Code of Conduct during Summer 2026. As part of that review, and with input from students, staff and legal counsel, the University adopted provisions intended to address unrecognized student organizations and promote consistent accountability and student safety on and off campus. The updated Code was posted on Aug. 1.
"Following additional internal review, the University revised and did not enact. The Student Code of Conduct was subsequently updated to reflect the University’s current policy and maintains its commitment to student safety."
The university already had a rule in the UTampa Fraternity and Sorority Life handbook, which prohibits suspended and unrecognized organizations from representing themselves as affiliated with the school.
"Any student who affiliates with these groups and engages in behaviors contrary to the Student Code of Conduct may be subject to disciplinary actions by the Office of Student Conduct," according to page 8 of the handbook.
Last week, the Fraternity Forward Coalition, of which Alpha Sigma Phi is a member, wrote a letter to UTampa leadership inquiring about the process behind the policy change and notifying the university that they retained legal counsel "to ensure that our members' civil liberties are safeguarded."
