The University said it was acting on a 1969 assembly policy when it called state police to enforce a new daytime tent ban during a protest. But the actual Dunn Meadow policy – the one passed in 1969 – contains no reference to ad hoc committees or permission needed for structures. What’s written on an IU website isn’t in fact a policy at all. (Ethan Sandweiss/WTIU)
Dunn Meadow has been emblematic of IU’s activist movements for 60 years. The grassy area on the west side of campus lies on the banks of the Campus River beneath the shadow of IU’s colossal Memorial Union. Walk past it today and you’ll see the tents, flags and solar panels of the “Liberated Zone,” an encampment created by students demanding IU end its ties with Israel over the war in Gaza.
Although Dunn Meadow’s status as a free speech zone has long been enshrined in university policy, dueling interpretations of the “Policy for the Use of Indiana University Assembly Ground” are testing the limits of that status.
In late April, armed state police converged on the meadow at the behest of the university administration, arresting 57 protesters. The resulting backlash tore already fraying ties between the administration and the community.
Read more: ISP Leader on IU protests
Administrators contend that the policy grants the Provost authority to create committees that change the rules, to decide when permission is needed to erect structures and to determine how its few limitations are meant to be enforced.
Although details are sparse in the agenda for this week’s meeting of the Board of Trustees, IU General Counsel Anthony Prather will present “proposed policy revisions” for a vote, which could concern Dunn Meadow.
Read more: IU changes policy day before encampment arrests
IU President Pamela Whitten told faculty in listening sessions that the policy needed to be changed since it was “ambiguous” and “old”. She also said the policy forbids tents after 11 p.m. and allows an ad hoc committee to change the policy.
But the actual Dunn Meadow policy – the one passed in 1969 – contains no reference to ad hoc committees or permission needed for overnight structures. What’s written on an IU website isn’t in fact a policy at all.
The actual policy
Few people engaged in the conversation have read the policy trustees passed in 1969. Fewer still realize it wasn’t the first.
The 1969 Dunn Meadow guidelines sprouted from negotiations between then-Dean of Students Robert Shaffer and anti-Vietnam War protesters including members of Students for a Democratic Society. Students used the meadow as a staging ground for protests before the trustees enshrined its free speech zone status.
The Board passed a policy that year:
(a) The Board of Trustees has designated an area on Dunn Meadow immediately north of the Memorial Union as the Indiana University Assembly Ground. Here, members of the University community may express themselves freely on all subjects, within the limits of applicable laws and regulations, with or without advance notice. It is expected that all persons will respect the rights of free speech and assembly that are enhanced by this action, and will maintain courtesy and good order during such speaking and assembly as may take place.
(b) Gatherings on campus elsewhere than on the Assembly Ground will not be permitted to disturb classes or interfere with traffic. Reservations for University facilities are made on a first-come, first-served basis and are subject to the Facilities Use policies specified in Section 3.6. The use of the streets of Bloomington for parades or demonstrations is subject to the ordinances of the city.
The Board did not elaborate beyond those six sentences. It includes no reference to committees or rules involving temporary structures.
Since then, the policy has not been amended.
However, the language of this resolution is nearly identical to one the trustees passed six years earlier. As early as July 1963, the Board recognized the need for an assembly ground.
“The size and complexity of a modern state university require that specific measures be taken to secure adequate communication within it,” the proposal reads. “Because permanent internal media may at times be insufficient, the provision of facilities for impromptu use constitutes a valuable addition.”
This trustee-approved policy predates the Vietnam War protests.
Recommendations, not rules
What the university has interpreted as policy today emerged from efforts to clarify those guidelines.
Some university administrators felt the Dunn Meadow policy left questions unanswered. These issues surfaced during the meadow’s next stage of activist militancy.
Almost 20 years after the Vietnam-era policy passed, students opposed to South Africa’s racist apartheid regime erected a shantytown in Dunn Meadow and demanded that the trustees divest from the country. Like the current encampment, it attracted scrutiny as a semi-permanent fixture. Administrators felt pressure to issue guidelines.
Dean of Students Michael Gordon tasked an Assembly Ground Advisory Committee consisting of students and faculty with interpreting the trustees’ 1969 policy. Gordon asked for recommendations, not rules.
The Committee worked three years on its report before presenting to the Bloomington Faculty Council on Oct 17, 1989. That report was given a name: BL-ACA-I18. The text is clear in its role. “We believe the following rules should be adopted,” it says (emphasis added).
Its suggestions are familiar with anyone following recent events at Dunn Meadow: structures may be an effective form of expression, permission should be required for structures left overnight, the University should not use physical force to enforce those rules. It also suggested a committee to review applications for permits.
According to the minutes from that meeting, law professor Pat Baude and the other authors conceived of this as a permanent standing committee, not an hoc committee, as interpreted by the current Provost:
In part C, we call for the creation of a committee, and we define the composition of the committee as a default, so that if a committee has not been appointed, then it is automatically the IUSA (IU Student Government) president, the BFC President pro tem, and somebody from the Dean of Students Office. And if somebody wants to create a different committee, that's fine. But this committee always exists, by default, so that the review mechanism is available. We also thought the committee should be fast, so that it could meet immediately if it's ever needed.
Baude emphasized the importance of maintaining Dunn Meadow as a space for free expression.
“Free speech is not something we tolerate at the university; it is something we cherish at the university,” he told the council. “What happens in Dunn Meadow is not happening because of a weak-willed administration; it is happening because this is a great university, and these things happen there.”
The minutes show that faculty debated the recommendations but held no vote and passed no policies. Considering the report an “information item”, they made a note to include the recommendations in a guide for incoming freshmen.
The Baude committee report has been treated by the University in a practical sense as the basis for Dunn Meadow policy.
But the 1969 rules remained in effect.
Mix up
Decades later, the 1989 report reappeared on the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty & Academic Affairs (OVPFAA) website as “Policy for the Use of Indiana University Assembly Ground,” despite the fact that it was never approved as a policy.
A cursory reading of the text indicates that fact. The authors use phrases such as “we recommend” and “we believe” at least eight times.
The dating of this “policy” raises some flags as well. The website cites in its history section that the information was taken from the minutes of a 1969 Board of Trustees meeting. It also lists the effective date as Jan 1, 1969, rather than a specific meeting. In fact, the Dunn Meadow policy wasn’t discussed until Sept 6. The minutes of historical trustee meetings are all accessible here.
A reference to BL-ACA-I18 as policy appears on page 519 of the 2010 Academic Guide. Unlike other policies, the author cites no specific meeting or date of approval.
Nevertheless, this report became de facto campus law and justification for the University’s last-minute revision of Dunn Meadow rules before a planned protest.
The ad hoc committee assembled by Provost Rahul Shrivastav cited the report in an Apr. 24 post on the Office of Student Life website:
The temporary or permanent installation of structures (including, but not limited to, signage, tents, etc.) at any time must be approved in advance, by the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Life (OVPSL) in conjunction with University Events, and if approved, must adhere to guidelines provided by the University.
Neither BL-ACA-I18 nor the original policy mentions the OVPSL or University Events.
The report does recommend that the Provost be able to create a committee to give advice or “more detailed regulations.” It suggests that the committee include the President of IU Student Government and President pro tem of the Bloomington Faculty Council. The committee included neither.
Setting the record straight
Some faculty quickly noticed the discrepancy.
The local Association of American University Professors (AAUP) released a statement criticizing Whitten and Shrivastav two days after the policy change and one day after the first round of arrests at Dunn Meadow.
It also unearthed the policy’s 50-plus-year history.
The 1989 document now appears online as BL-ACA-I18: “Policy for the Use of Indiana University Assembly Ground,” where it is misattributed to the 1969 Board of Trustees. No history or authorization as policy is provided. (The original 1989 text has also been altered, with the office of Provost replacing the Office of Chancellor.)
The AAUP said that, although administrators claimed authority from the 1969 resolution, that policy “did not prohibit overnight occupation.”
On May 11, former IU Bloomington Provost Lauren Robel wrote a letter to the Board of Trustees explaining the history and university’s mistake in detail.
“As provost, I found it important to have an informed understanding of the policies I was required to enforce,” she wrote. A professor of law, Robel stressed the legal importance of that understanding.
In light of decisions you will have to make with respect to the pending lawsuit from the ACLU, and others that I suspect are being contemplated or are pending from faculty and students, I write to ensure that you have direct access to this information. I will leave conclusions about the relevance of these documents to the university’s decisions involving the Gaza protestors to your general counsel, who is copied on this email, as is the BFC faculty president, in the spirit of transparency.
Indiana Public Media asked IU Provost Rahul Shrivastav and General Counsel Anthony Prather whether they were aware of the actual Dunn Meadow policy and if the actions taken by the administration in late April were in line with university rules. University spokesperson Mark Bode sent a statement on their behalf:
This only underscores the need for an updated policy, and is precisely why we are confident that the Board of Trustees will bring the clarity needed to protect and preserve free speech on our campuses, while prioritizing the safety of our campus community.
It also asked Board of Trustees Secretary Andrea Havill and BFC President Colin Johnson whether they were aware of any subsequent revisions of the 1969 Dunn Meadow policy. Neither responded by the time of publication.
This story was originally published June 12, 2024.
