This post was written by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Young Democratic Socialists of America (UIUC YDSA)
Over the summer, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign severely restricted the right to protest on campus with the passing of new policies and enforcement of old ones. This is a direct result of students and community members coming together last spring to fight against the university’s complicity in genocide.
UIUC Young Democratic Socialists of America have made the rescission of these policies our main campaign.
In the Campus Administrative Manual, Policy FO-82, Section 2, Subsection d, Item ii (https://cam.illinois.edu/policies/fo-82/) states that it is a violation if an individual is, “Creating a volume of noise that… is likely to or does deprive others of the benefit or enjoyment of the activity or University Property.”
Vague rules like these are the reason progressive organizations on campus are being disciplinarily charged for activities that would not have been an issue a year ago. A precedent was set in the Supreme Court case of Cox v. Louisiana, stating that vague rules on noise, such as this one, are unconstitutional.
Our organization recently conducted a Freedom of Information Act request on the I-Team, a previously mysterious group that surveils every student protest and labor rally, looking to hand out punishment. This group was formed over the summer and was allocated $50,000 to be spent on stipends for members and software that allows for direct communication with the police.
The full FOIA documents can be found at https://linktr.ee/uiucydsa.
These policies have a chilling effect on activism on campus. With strict enforcement of new policies, it is no wonder why students fear speaking out against injustice.
We ask that you sign our petition, telling the university that we will not stand for these anti-free speech policies!
Share with petition others: https://bit.ly/protectspeech
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