The American University administration held an online open forum on Aug. 19 for students to discuss developing policies concerning expression and free speech as students headed back to campus.
Administrators gave students an overview of proposed policies related to expression and answered presubmitted student questions for over 20 attendees, many of whom were from student organizations. The chat feature was restricted during the call but students submitted questions the day before the event via an online form to be answered by the speakers.
The forum was hosted by Vice President of Student Affairs Raymond Ou, Vice President of Communications Matt Bennett, Vice President of General Counsel and Board Secretary Traevena Byrd and Vice President of Inclusive Excellence Nkenge Friday.
Byrd said the purpose of the forum was for students to learn about the proposed policies and for students and administration to have “an opportunity to work together.”
This meeting follows the Jan. 25 directives which were put into place by former University President Sylvia Burwell and administrators. These directives, which University President Jonathan Alger rescinded Aug. 13, included a ban on all indoor protests and specific content restrictions for any flyers and posters hung on campus.
Bennett, Byrd and Friday highlighted policies specifically concerning protests, and chalking and tabling on campus spaces. They outlined a general timeline for the new policies to be put into place.
Byrd announced that for every new policy, there will be a ten day minimum time frame to collect feedback from students and staff. The first of these policies, those concerning chalking, are set to go into place the week of Aug. 26, the first week of classes.
The new chalking policies include a ban on defacing or drawing over another student's chalking, and Ou clarified during the meeting that “the University will remove chalking on a regular basis regardless of content.”
The University will also remove any chalking and posting that is considered “lewd or obscene or threatens physical health or safety” under AU’s policies, which are processed and upheld through the Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices.
Byrd added that such removals and restrictions are content neutral and can be applied to any student or organization on AU’s campus.
Bennett said that University affiliated social media accounts must also comply with University policies, which will now include an updated and currently unreleased definition for what qualifies as official AU social media accounts.
“Anyone who represents the university or includes their affiliation with the university needs to make it clear that their social media account does not represent the official views or stands of the university,” Bennett said. “And that any content or activity on a personal social media account must equally comply with law and University policies.”
Protests, which are now allowed to occur indoors with restrictions, must also follow University policies, some of which are outlined in the Registered Student Organizations handbook. According to Byrd, these policies also include access to AU buildings which “should not be impeded by protests.”
Ou added that the University is collaborating with a law firm to draft these new policies, which remained unnamed throughout the call, in order to follow principles of inclusive excellence.
This legal collaboration and implementation of regular student public forums is intended to improve formerly controversial University policy, which Byrd said she recognizes is a process.
“We are not here to pretend that these policies are perfect, but safety transcends everything else,” Byrd said.
As a part of this process, students asked if Alger would differ from his predecessor on free speech policies.
“Alger is well versed in issues related to freedom of expression and education law, and he wants to hear from you,” Ou said.
Alger and AU’s administration will have another chance to hear from students as Ou said another public forum is set to be held in the coming weeks to “continue the conversation on policies.”
This article was edited by Payton Anderson, Tyler Davis and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks.
