The Student Union Senate and administration discussed a draft of a policy designed to clarify the limits of student demonstrations on campus last Thursday.
“Essentially it puts into writing what the administration has already expected of students and Student Groups,” said Eric Gradel, speaker of the Student Union (SU) Senate. “It doesn’t put any restrictions on them.”
The draft, if it becomes a resolution as is, will not make any major innovations in administration policy towards demonstrations. The resolution would stipulate that student groups must clear a time and place with the Office of Student Activities before demonstrating, and that the demonstration may not disturb the academic experiences of students on campus.
Although Gradel is in favor of the policy, he said that some of its clauses need to be fleshed out.
“It is a very vague statement and it is something that the administration will have to clarify a little bit more. But disruptive behavior in my mind is anything that interferes with the academic experience, like occupying a classroom.”
Gradel added, however, that the draft does contain some specific instances of disturbance, such as preventing a professor from lecturing, interfering in another group’s activity or blocking off part of the campus without prior permission from the OSA. The clause, however, added that disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to those instances.
Despite such uncertainties, there was little opposition during the senate meeting to the draft policy. Several senators agreed that this policy would serve to better inform student groups of what they can and cannot do.
“There was no real issue with the policy,” said Gradel. “A demonstration policy creates more freedom for students because they don’t have to tread so lightly when they are demonstrating. The rules have been laid out.”
Concerns arose, however, regarding how much the policy will be publicized, and how its publication will affect student groups’ actions.
“The only problem we saw was if this is not publicized to students,” said Gradel. “Unless this policy is publicized, how will students ever know the boundaries within which they are supposed to operate?”
Student Union Senator Jeff Zove, a senior, noted that if the administration makes students aware of the policy, it will foster a better relationship between students and faculty.
“Rather than having the student groups feel anxious about how the University will respond, now they will know by having the policy in place,” said Zove, former Speaker of the Senate. “Now student groups can protest peacefully.”
Impulse to put the demonstration into writing may have come as a result of the Student-Worker Alliance (SWA) protests in April 2004. During those demonstrations, students staged a sit-in outside of Brookings Hall to protest the lack of Living Wage conditions for University workers. Gradel said, however, that that was not the main drive behind the policy.
“It is safe to say that that is part of it, but this is not a knee-jerk reaction to that demonstration,” he said.
Questions remain as to whether the policy will be effective, as student groups that want to protest the administration’s policies may not be concerned with its guidelines.
“The policy is really only useful to those student groups that are interested in behaving,” said Gradel. “Groups that want to break the rules, that is what they are going to do. The administration cannot talk them out of it.”
Another question arose as to consequences for policy violations.
“There is not one specific response,” he said. “The policy opens the door to different types of responses for different types of actions. It remains broad enough because there are so many types of extenuating circumstances.”
Aside from specific policy discussions, senators were pleased that the administration came to them for input and discussion.
“It is good that, rather than enacting this policy without student input, they have come to student representatives and asked them for it,” said Zove. “It is a testament to how great the administration is that they are actively seeking out student input in this policy.”