Tufts University: 'Cox' T-shirt

In April 2012, members of the men's crew team wore T-shirts at Tufts' Spring Fling featuring a silhouette of a rowing team on a boat and the phrase "check out our cox" (referring to a boat's coxswain). According to multiple accounts, several members were suspended from the team after a bias incident report was submitted due to the shirt's content, two senior captains were removed from their positions, and team members had to write apology letters. The accounts reported a dean exerting disciplinary pressure on the team, stating that the shirts promoted rape and aggression toward women. Additionally, a confidential source reported to FIRE that Tufts' rowing director ordered his assistants to choose a punishment, which he and the dean's office would then approve. After intervention from FIRE, Tufts President Tony Monaco reinstated the suspended members of the men's crew team in May 2012. 

Case Materials

• "Email from Tufts University President Anthony P. Monaco to Adam Kissel, May 4, 2012," May 4, 2012
• "Letter to Men's Crew Team from President Anthony P. Monaco, May 3, 2012," May 3, 2012
• "Letter from FIRE to Tufts University President Anthony P. Monaco, May 2, 2012," May 2, 2012
• "'Cox' T-shirt," May 2, 2012
• "Free Speech at Tufts University "Deja Vu" All Over Again," March 27, 2000: Twelve years after FIRE cofounder Harvey Silverglate helped slay the Tufts speech code, he returns to face the threat of a new code there.

Blog Entries

• "Tufts President Responds to FIRE in 'Cox' Case," by Adam Kissel, May 10, 2012
• "Victory at Tufts after Crew Team Members Suspended for ‘Cox’ T-shirts," by Adam Kissel, May 4, 2012: Facing a rising tide of criticism and intervention from FIRE, Tufts University President Tony Monaco reinstated the suspended members of the men’s crew team late on Thursday. After the members wore T-shirts reading “check out our cox” (referring to a team’s coxswain), the university had suspended them, pressed as many as four team captains to resign, and asked the members to deliver apologies for the “offense” caused by the T-shirts.
• "Censorship of ‘Cox’ T-shirt Creates Waves of Outrage as FIRE Intervenes," by Peter Bonilla, May 3, 2012
• "Tufts Cuts Off 'Cox' T-shirt," by Alison Meyer, May 2, 2012