Roughly 300 pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside Northrop Auditorium Wednesday ahead of a University of Minnesota presidential inauguration ceremony, and a few students briefly interrupted Rebecca Cunningham’s speech.
Both acts appear to violate the university’s policy on “spontaneous civic engagement” on campus. But the question remains: What will university administrators do about it?
Since Cunningham started her role as president on July 1, some students who have been calling on administrators to divest from Israel have noticed a change in tack on responses to campus protests, which started after Israel’s onslaught on Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
The University of Minnesota did not immediately respond to a request for information about whether any of the students involved in Wednesday’s action faced consequences. Student organizers said administrators approached two students who disrupted the president’s speech and threatened suspension. Organizers indicated they would have more information sometime Thursday afternoon.
At a late August Board of Regents meeting, Cunningham outlined university policy for “spontaneous civic engagement” on campus.
At a Thursday, Sept. 12, protest outside Morrill Hall, student organizers held up a single bullhorn, calling out one of the protest rules they find bizarre: Only one bullhorn is allowed. Protests also must not have over 100 people in attendance, tents are prohibited, banners must be smaller than 14 inches by 22 inches, and protests must end and disperse by 10 p.m. The document states: “Violation of these policies is a violation of the Student Conduct Code and may result in immediate interim suspension while awaiting full Student Conduct Code proceeding.”
“This restriction on freedom of speech contradicts the claim that they support freedom of speech,” said Adam Abu, vice president of the University of Minnesota branch of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
Abu was one of the students trying to work with the university’s former interim president Jeff Ettinger, who vowed to work with protesters in the spring.
As an interim university president, Ettinger took a fairly hands-off approach to student protest, Abu said. In the spring, though some students were arrested early on, the university’s highly specific protest policy wasn’t enforced, Abu said.
Ultimately, Ettinger agreed to work with students and established bi-monthly meetings to discuss student demands.
What’s changed since the spring?
When Cunningham came into her new full-time role, Abu said the tone shifted. She didn’t make as many meetings, Abu said. At meetings, he also noticed a higher police presence around Cunningham.
As a full-time president “she has more of a stake in the game,” he said.
The policy was created in 2008 and later ratified with additional rules and restrictions in 2016. Also in 2016, Abu’s organization made its first formal statement to the university calling for the university’s divestment from Israel. Since the rules ratification, however, Abu noted enforcement hasn’t been consistent or applied to every student issue.
“They’re picking and choosing when to enforce this policy and using it to justify suspension and arrest,” he said.
Abu believes that there should be no such policy on the books for peaceful protest.
The university sent a link to its civic responsibilities policy in response to a request for comment. When asked about when its policy had last been enforced, it sent the following statement: “The University of Minnesota supports individual rights to free speech and safe, lawful protest. As a large public university, demonstrations where groups express diverse views and opinions occur regularly on our campus, often with no need for University officials to intervene, but there was intervention in a few instances last spring.”
Winter Keefer
Winter Keefer is MinnPost’s Metro reporter. Follow her on Twitter or email her at wkeefer@minnpost.com.
