As students start to return to college towns, those attending school at one of Indiana University's nine locations may wonder how a new policy will affect free speech on campus.
Indiana University’snew “expressive activities” policyis raising eyebrows from First Amendment experts and campus free speech advocates, who say the policy as written could severely limit free speech everywhere on campus.
This policy was created in response to the encampments and protests taking place on IU campuses, with students and faculty raising awareness for the ongoing displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and encouraging IU to disclose and divest from its financial ties to Israel.
The policy was approved by the IU Board of Trustees at their meeting on July 29 and will take effect on August 1, The Herald-Times reported.
Here's what we know.
What is IU's new "expressive activities" policy?
The draft policy,expanded onIU’s existing First Amendment policiesand established specific time, place and manner restrictions on overnight camping, use of signs and structures, noise levels and use of materials like spray chalk and paint.
The revised policy that was passed uses considerably softer language than the initial draft, allowing some leeway for camping/encampments with prior approval, removing language prohibiting “markings of any kind” on vertical surfaces and removing language that expressive activities “must not take place in areas that are used for instructional, administrative, or residential purposes.”
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Will the policy apply to all IU campuses?
Yes, the policy will apply to all of IU's nine campuses.
Why is IU creating this policy?
While the policy does not explicitly mention thecurrent pro-Palestine encampment at Dunn Meadow, former IU trustee member Jeremy Morrissaid during a June meeting the policy was drafted in response to “issues from the past few months,”and in a social media video, said hewas working on crafting a policy in response to the encampments.
The policy has been critiqued by pro-Palestinian protesters at IU Bloomington, IUB’s Student Government, IU’s American Association of University Professors chapter andFirst Amendment advocatesfor its vague wording and for allegedly targeting pro-Palestinian activism.
Although encampments in Dunn Meadow and at other IU campuses have been in violation of IU policies since April, codifying the new expressive activity policy is seen by many as a step toward clearing encampments ahead of the 2024-2025 school year.
Protesters — who erected the encampment to raise awareness for the ongoing displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and have been asking for IU to disclose and divest from its financial ties to Israel — say the encampment has been an effective means of organizing and applying pressure to the university.
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What are the implications of the 'expressive activity policy' on IU campuses?
First Amendment expertsexpressed concernthat the draft policy, as written, could severely limit student speech in classrooms and dorms.
Naomi Satterfield, a Ph.D. student at IU's School of Public Health, said the policy could have wide-ranging implications for expressive activities at IU, even outside of protest.
"The proposed policy does not define 'expressive activity,' so it can be wielded to silence anything that our administration perceives as such," Satterfield said. "It's not difficult to see that this policy is not for Hoosiers."
Do students, faculty support the new policy?
IU Faculty and Staff for Israel, a pro-Israel group on Bloomington’s campus that’s been critical of the encampment in Dunn Meadow, expressed support for the policy and encouraged the trustees to extend the policy to staff and visitors, as well as adopt or reference language from IU’s codes on harassment within its definition of expressive activities.
During the July 29 board meeting, IU General Counsel Tony Prather said his office received “more than 200 pages” of feedback from IU students and stakeholders on theinitial draftof the policy sent out in late June. That feedback, alongside comparing IU’s policy to peer Big 10 institutions, was used to craft the final policy, Prather said.
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Bryce Greene, a leader of the Bloomington encampment and founder of IU’s Palestine Solidarity Committee, said the policy was built to justify IU’s actions on April 25 and 27, when more than 50 people were arrested.
Greene, who attended the July 29 meeting, said during a public comment period the policy did not have the support of IU students and community members.
“Why do you hate students? No student I’ve talked to was in favor of this policy. No faculty member I’ve talked to was in favor of this policy,” Greene said. “So why does the Board of Trustees think that the voices of students and faculty don’t matter?”
How did the IU Board of Trustees vote on the policy?
Disagreement and dissent were visible amongst the trustees during the July 29 meeting, with the final draft passing 6-3 — a rare occurrence for a board that frequently votes unanimously. Student trustee Kyle Siebert, and elected trustees Donna Spears and Vivian Winston, voted against the policy.
Siebert and Winston introduced four amendments in total attempting to further soften the language and prevent more punitive measures with respect to students, but ultimately their amendments failed.
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Reach Brian Rosenzweig atbrian@heraldt.com. Follow him on Twitter/X at@brianwritesnews.
