Just before spring break, before the first bomb was dropped on Baghdad, ASU President Michael Crow issued a statement to all students, faculty and staff regarding campus protests.
He warned, "Without infringing on freedom of expression [the disclaimer] ... we will closely monitor demonstrations to ensure they don't disrupt the educational mission of the University [the threat]."
He added that he would not tolerate any kind of violent behavior or intimidation.
Considering there haven't been any violent demonstrations on campus since the current conflict began, it seems that the only form of "intimidation" to date is this letter.
In an interview after issuing the statement, Crow was asked if guidelines or designated areas would be set for protests. He had this response:
"The Campus Environment Team is taking an active role in this endeavor... The University has numerous free-speech areas in the public domain for demonstrators to gather."
The "free-speech areas" to which Crow refers are limited and designated areas where the students' rights of free speech apply. If you're not in one of the areas, kiss your speech goodbye.
This is no original notion, though. At San Diego State University, for example, the only legal place to demonstrate is on the "Free Speech Steps" at the student union.
ASU isn't much better. Cady Mall is our only haven of constitutionality. If you register in advance and receive permission to demonstrate, you will be granted your First Amendment rights - but only in this one nook of campus. If you fail to register, you will be asked to disperse.
The Supreme Court ruled that it's OK to restrict protests on a University campus in certain areas - such as within 10 feet of a major entryway like the MU - as long as it doesn't eliminate protesting completely. Obviously, safety is important. But on a campus of this size, where there are endless public areas far from the potential for physical danger, to have only one designated "free speech" area is ridiculous. To have to get permission to speak there is nothing less than a rape of our rights.
The frightening part is that these policies are becoming increasingly common at universities across the country, allowing schools to control the time, place and manner of public expression.
Jonathan Kotler, director of graduate and professional programs at the University of Southern California, said, "Free-speech zones that tend to isolate or remove where you can exercise your constitutional right to the edge of campus are clearly illegal and unconstitutional."
In line with this thinking, two students at the University of Texas at El Paso filed a lawsuit on March 7 charging that their school's free-speech areas are a violation of the First Amendment.
If we accept these free-speech areas without protest, they will become the norm. And if this becomes the norm, is this still a democracy?
