American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois recently sent an open letter to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign warning administrators that new guidelines surrounding “expressive activities” are having a chilling effect on student expressions of free speech. Despite UIUC’s expressed “unyielding allegiance to freedom of speech,” student protesters with the group Students for Environmental Concerns (SECS) experienced what the ACLU described as “overzealous enforcement of university regulations” when they undertook their annual Climate March at the end of September. The regular event, which the group has been hosting for well over a decade, has never received any kind of disciplinary action in the past. This year, three individual students faced disciplinary action and the organization was placed on a multi-year probation. Students were put on “academic hold” and had to participate in disciplinary meetings.
ACLU’s letter described the action against SECS as “onerous discipline for the kinds of protests that the University recently embraced as appropriate exercise of free speech.” Not only is the restriction of free speech problematic, it also comes at a troubling time. The letter points out that “implementing major free speech policy changes in the immediate wake of the spring Gaza protests . . . created the potential appearance of a retaliatory motive.” The UIUC policy changes occurred in the direct aftermath of the Gaza protests—over the summer when most students are not present on campus. The ACLU letter points out that this was in direct rejection of “student demands for modest extensions of the notice and comment period on the policies into the school year.”
The letter details a number of the policies aimed to control “expressive activities” on campus. Restrictions limit amplified sound to the level of a loud restaurant “or lower sound levels at the discretion of the administration,” making it apparently impossible to use amplified sound without the risk of discipline. Adding to the difficulty of using amplified sound under the new rules, existing rules require “that bullhorns remain 50 feet or more away from almost any university building, while simultaneously remaining ‘pointed away from’ the closest such building.”
The ACLU suggests that the many rules about posting materials, including a provision against leaving handheld signs unattended, “seem designed to prevent mild inconvenience to the University at the direct expense of a free expression principle to which the University claims ‘undying allegiance.’”
The measures against SECS and its supporters appear to have had a chilling effect on student expressions of free speech, with students fearing that simply “directing a normal protest crowd around the UIUC campus will subject participants to serious discipline that threatens their academic careers” and put their registered student organization (RSO) status at risk. SECS not only risks losing the many tangible benefits that come with being an RSO; it also stands to lose its status as the oldest environmental student organization on campus.
And, as ACLU reports, the threat to student organization status is very real. UIUC revoked student organization status for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) after the spring protests. In the letter, ACLU describes this action as “collectively punishing students associated with Students for Justice in Palestine—whether they were personally involved with the spring protests or not.” Similar to the SECS discipline, this action appears to represent a departure for the University, since SJP was well established as an RSO. ACLU notes that “Students for Justice in Palestine is the largest Palestinian student group at UIUC and has existed at the University for well over a decade,” making the revocation of the group’s status particularly unprecedented. The group will not be allowed to seek reinstatement until 2027 (making it impossible to be an RSO until 2028).
ACLU warns that the targeting of the Palestinian group for collective punishment together with the rush to implement new restrictions on free speech in the wake of the Gaza solidarity protests “creates the appearance that the University is motivated by pressure to ‘crack down’ on pro-Palestinian protest based on its content,” which would violate the students’ First Amendment rights.
The University has also attempted to compel SJP’s leadership and most of its membership to participate in a compulsory training. ACLU contends that this amounts to punishment by “association,” which the Supreme Court has consistently held is unconstitutional.
In closing, the ACLU encourages UIUC to repair the damage done by “reversing the policy changes and disciplinary actions discussed [in the letter], and by enforcing university policies in a manner that generously accommodates the kind of student activism that has been a cornerstone of academic freedom and university life for generations.”
Go here to read more from ACLU about the open letter and a copy of the letter.
Jane McClintock is a long-time Urbana resident. Jane currently serves on the board of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center and on the Champaign County ACLU Steering Committee.
88 total views, 6 views today