Students walk and talk across the Quad every day, but if they want to stop walking to host an event, The University of Alabama requires a grounds use permit.
The fact that a large public university requires its students to request permission for peaceful activity has landed the University on the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s list of “The 10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech.”
“As we have said, the better response would be to simply allow students to engage in spontaneous speech, as long as they’re not breaking any university policy or causing any sort of disruption to campus functions,” said Azhar Majeed, FIRE’s associate director of legal and public advocacy.
The list, published on the Huffington Post, cites a “bureaucratic assault on common sense and the Constitution,” related to an event in April of last year when Alabama Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Justice students were stopped from staging a spontaneous counter-protest in response to Bama Students for Life’s anti-abortion display.
“This is exactly the type of expressive activity you want to see students engaged in,” Majeed said of the protests.
After the event, the Capstone revised its grounds use policy – which had previously required an advance notice of 10 days – to accommodate more spontaneous demonstrations. However, Samaria Johnson, president of AASRJ, said the change, which occurred silently, reflects a university that is still not working with its students to proactively address free speech issues.
“It’s not about what happened. It’s about how it happened,” she said. “The University still has not expressed any interest in actually being open about it.”
The problem is not necessarily that the University always restricts free speech, Johnson said, but that it fails to handle conflicts and include students in its decision-making processes.
“I would say it’s a free speech problem that’s born from a save-face problem. The University has to lighten up just a little about these things,” she said. “Don’t be so afraid of working with students. Call us.”
Claire Chretien, president of BSFL, agreed that the kind of activity both her organization and AARSJ engaged in were protected under the First Amendment and is not surprised that the University’s policies landed it on FIRE’s list.
“As demonstrated by all the hoops BSFL had to jump through last year, the grounds use policy is deeply concerning,” she said. “Why must students ask permission to exercise basic free speech rights?”
According to FIRE, students shouldn’t have to. Majeed said university campuses serve a unique function and should operate as a “marketplace of ideas,” a concept he said has been “explicitly recognized” by the United States Supreme Court.
“The First Amendment is one of the most important rights students have, and they carry it with them at a public university,” he said. “As an administrator at a university like Alabama, you should always be cognizant of those rights.”
Cathy Andreen, UA director of media relations, said the grounds use policy resulted from demand for UA grounds and facilities use and exists to deal with situations in ways also recognized by the Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court has long recognized that any speech and assembly is subject to reasonable restrictions of time, place and manner. For example, it would not be appropriate for someone to disrupt a math class to protest political events, for someone to yell ‘fire’ in a crowded auditorium or for a group to schedule a loud concert on the Quad during finals,” Andreen said. “University policies exist to protect those situations and interests.”
Andreen said the policies resulted from student body growth and are regularly reviewed.
“The grounds use permit process ensures that events, speeches, demonstrations, etc., held on our campus do not endanger the safety of our students and the campus community and do not disrupt the University’s ability to educate our students and conduct our daily operations,” she said. “In addition, the process helps to avoid conflicts between events that might be scheduled for the same time and place.”
Johnson said she and AASRJ plan to keep pushing until the University pushes back.
“We just talk until we hit a speed bump,” she said.
And while last year’s incident was a relatively publicized speed bump, Johnson said the Capstone’s silence can be just as problematic. Just before spring break, UA sidewalks were chalked with inappropriate jokes that Johnson said amounted to sexual assault. The statements were washed away, but she said the effects of the comments deserved a reaction from the University.
“The issue is that [the University] didn’t handle it,” she said. “You can say something.”
FIRE said last year’s incident was not the only reason the University ended up on their list. Majeed pointed specifically to a hate speech policy that FIRE flagged in 2004 and the amount of discretion administrators have in granting permits.
“These are things that can be resolved and addressed properly under First Amendment standards, and we certainly hope the University will do that,” he said.
