If a university's overriding commitment to free expression is to be sustained, secondary social and ethical responsibilities must be left to the informal processes of suasion, example, and argument. Just as nothing in the present policy is to be understood as excusing users of University computing facilities from compliance with federal or state law, nothing in this policy should be understood as withdrawing the University's affirmation of statements in faculty and student policy handbooks in support of academic and intellectual freedom. None of this, though, denies that harassment on the basis of sex is a violation of Section 703 of Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and is also prohibited under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The mere fact of computer-mediation by no means excuses contact that otherwise counts as sexual harassment under the reasonable person standard adopted by the University. Furthermore, users of public terminals or similar facilities at the University should be aware of the public nature of shared facilities and should take care not to display images or play sounds that could create an atmosphere of harassment for others.
Similar considerations apply to electronic mail exchanges.
Electronic mail on Webster systems should be as private as the system administrators can make it. Users are prohibited from trying to read the electronic mail of others. Whenever feasible, systems should be administered so that bounced mail is directed to the system administrators in the form of headers only to protect privacy while ensuring reliable e-mail service. The University is not responsible for unofficial uses of computer resources. In particular, e-mail and personal Web pages often express private opinions which do not reflect University positions.