By Charlie Cronk
The University announced changes to campus posting, assemblies, protests and demonstration policies following the disruption of the Susan Resneck Pierce Lecture in Feb. 2024. The new policies were adopted on Sept. 16, in consultation with the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, which investigated the protests against Rep. Derek Kilmer’s scheduled lecture. The updated policy includes the following requirements: Posters require a sponsor, “A university department, program, recognized student organization, appointed body or individual(s) who are responsible for the content of a posting and the posting itself.” Postings also cannot be placed on “doors, walls, glass windows (postings cannot block line of sight under any circumstances), wood surfaces, building exteriors, floors, banisters, pillars, fixtures, railings, stairs, traffic and directional signs, or in restrooms.”
President Crawford’s email on the updates stated, “Rather than making changes to our existing documents, we have developed and the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees has approved two new university-wide administrative policies.” Provost Drew Kerkhoff added via email, “It also includes the provision that more localized posting policies can be tailored to specific spaces as well.”
These new policies were changed following the protests of Rep. Derek Kilmer’s lecture last year. “We are committed to learning from the Pierce Lecture incident and related events around the country so that we can continue to foster a safe, inclusive environment for constructive dialogue and education,” President Crawford said in a campus email on Sept. 20. Kerkhoff said that the policy also addresses the concern that “our protest and posting standards were not easily understood by the campus community.”
Professor Sam Liao, Chair of the Philosophy Department, voiced concerns regarding the implementation process. “There’s also a bit of a procedural concern where the University has adopted this policy, seemingly without much consultation with the faculty and faculty senate,” he said. “If this is just existing policy, then no new consultation is needed. But if there are new aspects of policy, then procedurally, it was surprising to find out from the President’s email,” he added.
The enforcement of this policy has been inconsistent; many posters currently hanging around campus violate the new updates but have yet to be removed. “The university supports speech and expression by the campus community and is incrementally implementing the policy provisions, including removing out-of-date postings, anonymous or outside postings or postings on prohibited surfaces,” Security Services Director Dave Ferber said. Still, Liao pointed out potential issues with incremental implementation. “In Wyatt Hall, you can see that there are all sorts of posters that are posted along the hallway, along the stairs, when you walk up. I think as I read the policy, those are not allowed,” Liao said. “Given that there are so many apparent violations of policies right now, then if the policy were to get enforced at some point, what will be the particular basis of that?” he added.
Ferber said that staffing capacity also plays a role in the inconsistent implementation. “We are not staffed to routinely check all locations on campus for posting compliance, so it is possible there may be some posters displayed at any given time that do not comply with the policy,” he said. “However, if we are aware of non-compliant posters we remove them or contact the individuals/groups involved to seek their compliance,” Ferber added.
North End Tacoma Students for a Democratic Society (NETSDS) sees the changes in policy as targeted. “We feel like the University of Puget Sound changing this policy is extremely repressive. It is a clear attempt to get rid of the pressure towards divestment that we have been putting on the University,” a NETSDS member, who refused to be identified in print, said. “So we’re taking it as news that we need to continue fighting,” they added. NETSDS pointed out that their posters advertising a protest on Nov. 22 were pulled down shortly after they were posted, while many other posters that also violate the new policy regarding proper surfaces were not. The new policies aren’t meant to restrict speech, according to the Provost. “There is no intent to prohibit previously accepted behavior or action, or to provide new mechanisms to restrict expression,” Kerkhoff said. Ferber noted that NETSDS has no right to post anything on campus. “Outside individuals or groups have no right to engage in expressive activity on the campus without the university’s approval or agreement, and their postings may be removed at any time,” he said. The NETSDS spokesperson told The Trail they hope that the group can work to “get these policies rescinded so that our university can be a place where students have their voices heard.”