BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Indiana University Board of Trustees has strengthened the university’s longstanding commitment to protecting and supporting the right to free speech by affirming IU’s existing First Amendment Policy and ratifying a complimentary Expressive Activity Policy. The new policy supports protests and demonstrations that don’t materially and substantially disrupt university operations or hinder the expressive activity of another individual or group.
The policy will go into effect and be enforced starting Aug. 1.
The Board of Trustees’ vote during a special meeting Monday came after a recent independent report by Cooley LLP assessing the April events in IU Bloomington’s Dunn Meadow. The report included several recommendations, including implementing a new Expressive Activity Policy.
“The Dunn Meadow report validated the need to update policies that were outdated, unclear and inconsistent across IU’s campuses,” Trustees Chair W. Quinn Buckner said. “Indiana University has a longstanding commitment to advancing free speech. In order for free speech for all to flourish, we needed to clarify our policies so people clearly understand the allowable time, manner and place for free expression. We can’t let one person or group’s expression infringe on the rights of others, disrupt learning experiences for our students or interrupt regular university business.”
The Expressive Activity Policy continues to encourage freedom of expression for all, while also setting clear expectations for how members of the IU community and visitors to IU campuses must behave. The following activities are among those outlined in the policy:
Permitted
- Assembling in public areas of campus, including IU Bloomington’s Dunn Meadow.
- Peaceful protesting.
- Making speeches.
- Carrying signs.
- Expressing views through writing, publishing or distributing literature.
- Writing with water soluble chalk on sidewalks.
- Conducting expressive activities between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.
- Public celebrations of significant IU achievements.
Not permitted
- The use of temporary structures without approval at least 10 days in advance. Unapproved temporary structures are subject to immediate removal.
- Outdoor amplified sound that materially and substantially disrupts the academic, living or working environment of the university and its neighbors.
- Placing signs into the ground, affixing them to or hanging them from university property without prior permission. Unapproved signs are subject to immediate removal.
- Applying permanent or semi-permanent markings, including spray chalk, on any university property.
- Camping at any time unless approved in conjunction with an approved university event.
All expressive activity must also comply with local, state and federal laws.
The new Expressive Activity Policy comes after trustees, through the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel, solicited feedback on a draft policy from student, staff and faculty leaders across all of IU’s campuses.
The final policy, along with additional free speech resources, is available on IU’s Free Speech website.
