Dear President Maric and Provost D’Alleva,
I am writing to you on behalf of the Executive Committee of the UConn chapter of the AAUP to express our deep reservations about the new policies governing protest and expression at the University of Connecticut. We refer here to the Outdoor Amplified and Projected Sound Policy, the Outdoor Activities Policy, and the Posting Policy governing flyers and office signage. Taken together, these policies have a chilling effect on free speech by granting university administrators broader powers to clamp down on campus expression that they do not find welcome. We are calling for their revision and would like to meet with you to discuss them as soon as possible.
As our colleagues in GEU-UAW Local 6950 correctly noted, these policies are part of a national effort by college administrations to limit campus protest. The National-AAUP has recently issued a statement condemning the recent crackdown on peaceful student activism. We find this statement to be applicable here at UConn as well: that is, these policies undermine academic freedom, limit the rights of students, lack faculty input, and curtail the rights of faculty.
The amplified sound policy extends the hours in which amplified sound may be restricted and the outdoor activities policy now bans encampments outright. The latter document in particular is clearly a reaction to the student protests from April 25 to April 30, 2024, when UConn students, supported by some of their faculty and staff, peacefully demonstrated in solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza and the West Bank. An outright ban on all forms of camping is a ban on a nonviolent form of protest and we urge you to amend the policy accordingly. While we see the need for some policy on amplified sound, we are concerned that amplified sound permissions will now be granted to some groups and not others based on their politics.
A number of our members have expressed a more pointed concern with the new Posting Policy, which seems to give building managers and perhaps even department heads the right to restrict materials posted by faculty members on their own doors. Regarding the posting of printed materials, it reads, “Faculty office areas (e.g. doors and bulletin boards outside of their offices) and administrative spaces are at the discretion of academic departments/building managers.” In light of the national move to delimit expression on campus, we seek clarification on this language and urge its revision to prevent its possible abuse as a restriction on free speech and protected union activity.
Article 3.1 of our collective bargaining agreement states, “The Board of Trustees recognizes the paramount importance of academic freedom in an institution of higher education and reaffirms its continuing commitment to the principles of academic freedom and its protections described in the University of Connecticut By-Laws.” We encourage you to remember and uphold this commitment.
We object to increased restrictions on free expression, especially at a public university. We seek a revised policy that affirms the constitutionally protected rights of faculty, staff, and students to freedom of speech. We want to work in an environment where we know that our students have clear rights to nonviolently protest and where this right is not gradually whittled down. As employees of this university, we want our members and those of other unions to enjoy these rights as well, whether they want to participate in an encampment or just simply want to post something on their office doors. Since these policies impact Article 3 of our collective bargaining agreement, we are asking for representatives from the administration to meet with representatives from our leadership as soon as possible to discuss them as a first step toward revision.
Respectfully,
Chris Vials
President, UConn-AAUP Professor, English
Michael Bailey
Executive Director
UConn-AAUP
Office: 860-487-0450
Cell: 401-474-2917
You are indeed correct about the protests and the link to Gaza but you have to take a step back there. Look who would take advantage of student protests getting out of hand….Trump.
Is it worth it to allow protests just to let him use it in commercials and then win? Probably not.
Ned, you can’t possibly be serious. Think through what you just wrote.
First of all, the protests here did not get “out of hand” – there was not a single report of violence, property destruction, or harm of any other sort to either person or property during UConn’s encampment in the spring on the part of protesters. All violence and property destruction was initiated by UCPD, and the peaceful protesters stood by their principles and remained nonviolent and non-destructive, even as UCPD officers destroyed their personal property, and body-slammed, groped, tackled, and arrested them and their peers.
Secondly, limiting and banning peaceful demonstrations are Trump’s own policies, the very thing you’re trying prevent. Why stop at adopting Trump’s anti-protest policies? Why not ban gender-affirming care, he sure makes a fuss about that in the ads. Maybe we should ban BLM protests while we’re at it, those scare a lot of white voters. Deport more immigrants? Restart the Muslim ban? You’re advocating for becoming Trump in order to stop Trump. Either we have principles or we don’t, we can’t stop advocating for freedom of speech just because there’s an upcoming election.