Virginia universities roll out new rules for campus demonstrations
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As students at Virginia's public universities settle in for a new semester, many schools are rolling out new policies around campus demonstrations, public expression and space use.
Why it matters: University leadership says the new policies are meant to ensure students can safely and respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights, but some free speech advocates say they actually impede them.
The big picture: Across the nation, students and universities are preparing for a reinvigorated pro-Palestinian protest movement this fall following a boiling point during the spring semester, Axios' April Rubin reports.
- Nearly 3,000 students on more than 60 college campuses were arrested in April and May.
- In Virginia, more than 125 people, including dozens of students, were arrested at protests on VCU, UVA, Virginia Tech and Mary Washington campuses.
- University administrations faced criticism for involving local law enforcement and instituting academic punishments on students.
Zoom in: Thus far this month, VCU, JMU, UVA and Virginia Tech unveiled new and proposed rules governing where and how students can demonstrate on campus.
- Camping, the use of tents and in general sleeping outdoors is banned across the campuses.
- Each school also adopted a policy requiring anyone wearing a mask, hood or substantial face covering on university property to show a valid ID if asked. (Last year, some demonstrators wore masks during protest to protect their identity, per the Times-Dispatch.)
The intrigue: The updated rules at VCU, JMU and UVA are remarkably similar, according to an Axios review of the new policies uploaded to the schools' websites.
- Each limits where students can hold campus events and explicitly prohibits them on some portions of campuses. (For example, events are no longer allowed at VCU's Compass, where a spring pro-Palestinian protest took place.)
- VCU and JMU now require all events to have an official university sponsor, while UVA limits where non-sponsored student events can take place, provided they comply with school policies.
- Chalking — that is, writing on sidewalks in chalk — is outlined in detail for each campus, including where it can and cannot be done, as are signs and posters.
Worth noting: Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera urged the state's public universities to adopt many of these news rules earlier this month, Campus Reform reported.
- Some of the rules — masks and school sponsors for events — echo the policy suggestions made by Attorney General Jason Miyares in a letter to university presidents last fall, per the Times-Dispatch.
- And their implementation comes as Gov. Youngkin's appointees to university boards hold majorities at every school for the first time.
What they're saying: "There comes a point where there's so many restrictions that they're no longer reasonable; they're really there to discourage protest at all," Lindsie Rank, director of campus rights advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told education publication The Hechinger Report on the changes, which included VCU's.
What we're watching: The new rules for VCU are only in effect for one year. The school's University Council would have to vote to adopt them fully next year.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to note that VCU's University Council would approve the interim rules, not its Board of Visitors