Statement Opposed to Repressive Campus Policies
GEO is strongly opposed to the university administration’s proposed changes to the “General Use of and Access to University Property,” “Structures and Lawn Signs,” “Reservation of University Property,” and “Expressive Activity on Campus” policies published on July 17, 2024. The policies expand the administration’s ability to limit access to and set curfews for public university spaces. They restrict protest activities including signs, noise, flyers, and chalk. We believe these policies are a gross overreach of university administration power that will repress free speech and restrict freedom of movement for students, workers, and community members. As labor union members, we are no strangers to the attempts of bosses and administrators to enact policies that will make it harder for us to protest and strike to ensure decent working and living conditions. We encourage anyone who is concerned or has questions about these policies to submit a comment by August 11, 2024. The link to the form can be found here.
But it will take more than submitting comments to make the university administration listen to workers’ voices. It is only when we demonstrate our power collectively that they will make changes. In 2009, administration attempted to pass a policy preventing people from holding signs on sticks in response to GEO’s strike to win tuition waivers. Campus administration backed off when GEO members, students, workers, and community members came together to stop them.
Our union siblings at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have authorized a strike because campus administration is offering the workers who clean campus buildings and feed the students less than a 2% raise. Are we going to let the administration bully our fellow workers by restricting their ability to protest and pitting them against each other? Our students and community members are facing felony charges and university disciplinary hearings because of exercising their first amendment rights at a protest. What labor actions will campus administration try to quash if they get away with this?
If you are not okay with these repressive policies, attend a GEO Solidarity Committee meeting to take action. Email Asha and Matt at solcomm@uigeo.org to get involved. If we come together, we can protect our freedom of speech and protest and the ability of workers, students, and community members to access public education spaces.
What do the proposed policy changes entail and what are major changes from previous policies?
GEO’s Solidarity Committee read the proposed policies side-by-side with the previous policies. Below we highlight what we see as the major changes from the previous policies. There may be elements we missed or did not include, so we encourage you to read the policies in full if you have the chance.
General Use of and Access to University Property
Modifies previous policies regarding access to university spaces and expands the administration’s power by stating it “may limit or restrict access to” and “change or restrict the business hours for any location without advance notice” for public health, safety, or security considerations. This includes “publicly accessible areas” such as sidewalks, lawns, public streets, the student union, and libraries.
Proposes new identification policy: “Individuals on University Property may be required to provide identification at the request of an authorized agent of the university acting within the scope of their university duties.” Furthermore, the campus policies require that students comply with all orders from local and state law enforcement authorities.
Modifies the camping policy such that: “Unauthorized tents and other objects on University Property are subject to removal and disposal by the university.”
Introduces section 2b: “Compliance with University Policy”: “Conduct, including Expressive Activities, must comply with applicable university policy…”
Introduces 2d. iv. stating that expressive activity may not interfere with “fire protection, law enforcement, or emergency or medical services.”
Modifies Section 2i. Amplified Sound such that “no bullhorns are permitted during reading days and final exam periods.”
Adds several sub-sections to section 3 “Posting Materials”: e. “Unless otherwise indicated in a facility policy for designated spaces within the facility, materials must not exceed 11 inches by 17 inches and only one copy of a material may be posted in the same designated space at any one time.” f. “Materials may not be affixed in a manner that causes damage to University Property, such as using damaging adhesives.” g. “Materials cannot be obscene, libelous, or directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and likely to incite or produce such action.”
Modifies section 4 “Handheld Signs and Distribution of Written Materials” such that university community members and visitors may no longer distribute written and printed materials inside common areas of publicly-accessible buildings and may only distribute them in outdoor publicly-accessible areas. Also adds several sub-sections to section 4 “Handheld Signs and Distribution of Written Materials”” d. “Signs and materials cannot be obscene, libelous, or directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and likely to incite or produce such action.” e. “Handheld signs must be handheld, no larger than 3 feet in height by 3 feet in width, and may not be left unattended.”
Adds several sub-sections to Section 5 Chalking: a.iii. “Chalking is prohibited within twenty (20) feet of any doorway.” b. “Each chalking must be less than 5 feet x 5 feet and at least 20 feet from another chalking by the same University Community Member or affiliated organization.” e. “Chalking as permitted by this policy is subject to regular maintenance and cleaning by university personnel acting within the scope of their university duties.”
Replaces two previously separate policies on Lawn Signs and Outdoor Displays as well as the previous Expressive Activity policy section 5 on Structures and Outdoor Displays.
Introduces a new definition of structures: “event tents, tables, walls, outdoor displays, inflatables, freestanding signs, huts, sculptures, booths, facilities, flashing or rotating lights, illuminated signs, or similar objects and structures.”
Structures that are reserved by RSOs and university units may only remain in place for a maximum of three days (previously five days) and may only remain in place between the hours of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (previously “may not remain in place overnight”).
For lawn signs, sign panels may not exceed 18”x24”.
Reservation of University Property
Camping is moved out of this policy into the General Use of and Access to University Property policy.
What are GEO’s questions and concerns with the policy?
The General Use of and Access to University Property policy section on Publicly Accessible Areas allows campus administration to limit access to public areas and impose curfews at its discretion. This creates a divide between our state-funded university and our surrounding community. This ultimately results in a gated community that harms campus-community relations.
GEO and other campus unions employ union staff who are not graduate students. We are concerned that our staff will be unable to access university property outside of working hours, as is often necessary.
In the state of Illinois, an individual cannot be forced to show ID unless police reasonably suspect that they are committing a crime. While Illinois stop-and-frisk laws are concerning and have resulted in human rights violations, campus administration’s proposal to require identification at the request of an agent “within the scope of their university duties” goes far beyond state law’s stop and frisk policies and greatly increases the privacy invasion and risk of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, nationality, and immigration status. The policy puts undocumented students and community members at a high risk of being seen as “non-compliant” by law enforcement authorities.
The changes to identification and compliance procedures are particularly alarming considering many students use their smartphone apps as their form of ID. Already in Illinois, police officers are allowed to demand that defendants provide their cell phone passcode. This allows a disconcerting amount of access to student’s private information and communications.
The change in the campus policy allowing for the removal of tents by university staff, clearly in response to the spring encampment for Gaza, raises a question: which staff do they expect to remove the tents? In the spring, UIUC administration sent Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Building Service Workers (BSWs) to tear down protestors’ tents and clear the way for the police to arrest protestors. The removal of tents and repression of free speech is not among SEIU’s job duties and is a violation of their contract.
Many of the changes to the Expressive Activity on Campus policy are violations of labor law and the ability of workers to organize, picket, and strike. For example, labor unions often hand out flyers inside of buildings, while the administration is attempting to limit flyering to outdoor spaces only. Labor actions may occur during reading day or finals week, a period during which this policy would prohibit the use of bullhorns. It is common during strikes to display large signs that are not handheld, i.e., on sticks so they can be visible, or large structures such as the renowned inflatable Scabby the Rat.
Overall, we view these policies as overt violations of first amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly and labor law that open the door to fascist repression of social movements. Further, these policies impact the working conditions of campus union workers and our staff and thus are subject to negotiations.
**What can we do about this policy? **
Don’t forget to comment HERE by August 11 and spread the word! Email Asha and Matt at solcomm@uigeo.org to get involved with the GEO Solidarity Committee. We can fight these policies and win if we unite!