The new policy will free the university’s hand in addressing the Dunn Meadow encampment and will affect the International Graduate Workers Coalition if it decides to picket again in the fall.
(Ethan Sandweiss / WFIU-WTIU)
The Indiana University Board of Trustees passed a new expressive activities policy Monday, four weeks before the fall semester is set to begin.
The policy passed 6-to-3, with trustees Vivian Winston, Kyle Seibert and Donna Spears dissenting.
Board chair Quinn Buckner introduced the final version of the policy at the July 29 meeting. A group of pro-Gaza demonstrators from Dunn Meadow sat quietly in the audience carrying protest signs.
Buckner said the policy was necessary to keep the university nimble in light of “an environment that has changed dramatically in the last 10 years.”
He said the issue is student safety.
“I want to state as clearly as possible, based on everything I've seen and heard and more importantly what I believe, that there can be no disconnect between free speech and campus safety,” Buckner said. “Cannot happen.”
Some students and faculty have criticized the draft policy, saying it would not just limit the right to peaceful protest but restrict other benign activities as well. Others supported it but asked for changes.
The policy – technically called UA-10 - introduces a clear ban on camping, which effectively outlaws the Liberated Zone in Dunn Meadow. It also prohibits expressive activity within 25 feet of the entrance to any building or parking lot and between the hours of 11:01 p.m. and 5:59 a.m.
IU General Counsel Anthony Prather explained that he tasked a small team with reviewing 200-plus pages of feedback from the IU community and policies from other Big Ten schools. Prather said he felt comfortable he gave “absolute opportunity” for everyone to be heard. But not all feedback was followed.
“I wanted us as a group to come to a consensus with respect to why we weren't going to review that feedback,” he said.
Prather sent the revised policy to constituents last Friday.
Prather made several adjustments, including removing a ban on markings on vertical surfaces and a reference to “instructional spaces.” Otherwise, the policy remains similar to the original.
Two trustees wrote amendments attempting to soften the policy’s restrictions. Their colleagues shot them down.
Student trustee Kyle Seibert wanted to remove the restriction on night-time activity.
“When talking with some of my stakeholders across campus, students, faculty, staff, some of the folks that are tasked with the work of enforcing this policy, I came to the conclusion that I believe that it's too restrictive,” he said.
Elected trustees Winston and Spears backed Seibert’s motion, but the other six voted nay.
He also attempted to shorten the advance notice required for anyone wanting to erect temporary structures from 10 days to three.
“I think that gives our folks on the ground enforcing this policy the discretion that they need to determine if some of these structures are actually disruptive to campus operations,” Seibert said. Only he and Winston voted in support.
Trustee Winston, who attended listening sessions with faculty in the spring and met with protesters at the Dunn Meadow encampment, also introduced two amendments.
A line added to the final version of the policy allows the IU Superintendent for Public Safety to decide what additional resources are needed to remove unapproved structures. That determination gets to the heart of IU’s decision to call Indiana State Police to enforce the last-minute tent ban that led to almost 60 arrests in Dunn Meadow.
Winston introduced an amendment specifying IU could only call ISP as a last resort.
No trustees seconded her motion.
Violating any parts of the new policy may result in “immediate” action, including suspension from campus (the original version allowed punishment up to termination for employees). Winston attempted to remove the word “immediate.”
“I think that they're being treated as guilty until proven innocent, and that doesn't go along with our law in the United States where you're innocent until proven guilty,” she said. The audience applauded.
Again, no trustee seconded Winston.
After the final vote, Buckner opened the floor for comments. Protest organizer Bryce Greene spoke up.
“No student I've talked to was in favor of this policy,” he said. “No faculty member I've talked to was in favor of this policy. So why does the Board of Trustees think that the voices of students and faculty do not matter?”
The policy will go into effect Aug. 1. It will free the university’s hand in addressing the Dunn Meadow encampment and will affect the International Graduate Workers Coalition if it decides to picket again in the fall.
