Nearly four months after Virginia State Police cleared a pro-Palestine encampment on Grounds, University administrators have revised several policies that place restrictions on protests at the University and make it easier for them to disperse protests on Grounds. The University announced the new policies Monday morning in a U.Va. Today article, followed by an email from Kenyon Bonner, vice president and chief student affairs officer, to students reiterating the changes.
Notable parts of the updated University policies include banning certain objects, such as tents, on University property, barring select exceptions, and requiring individuals wearing masks to identify themselves to authorized University officials when prompted, as a means of limiting the ability of protesters to avoid recognition.
Issues around protest and free speech on Grounds came to a head in early May, when student, faculty and community protesters formed an encampment to demand that the University divest from companies that profit off of Israel’s ongoing military incursion and air campaign in the Gaza Strip.
The encampment was cleared May 4, when Virginia State Police wearing riot gear and using pepper spray forcibly dismantled the tents, arresting 27 demonstrators. University officials cited violations of policies surrounding tent use as the reason behind the breakup that day, though in the aftermath, Timothy Longo, chief of the University Police Department and vice president for security and safety, also referenced four men dressed in black as another explanation for the breakup. Longo said that two of the four men had been involved in violent acts elsewhere in Virginia, though the University has not provided further information regarding the identity of these individuals.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin took a hard position on pro-Palestine encampments in Virginia, which students formed on university campuses across the country. Like at the University, police arrested protesters at numerous other Virginia schools, with Youngkin saying he would not tolerate the same forms of protests that were lasting longer on campuses in other states.
According to Bonner’s email, the University issued the policy updates in response to feedback that administration received in the spring which criticized the clarity and poor communication with which the University listed and enacted its policies surrounding protests.
Bonner said in the email that students can still demonstrate on Grounds, insofar as they do not impede University operations, violate University policies or violate any laws. He added that all policies are designed to focus on how University community members carry out speech or expressive activities rather than focus on the content of their messages.
“All new and existing policies are viewpoint-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions,” Bonner said in the email. “They reflect the University's commitment to safeguarding your constitutionally protected rights of free speech and free expression while maintaining a safe atmosphere and ensuring that Grounds are equally open and accessible to all members of the University community as we maintain normal university operations.”
One of the University’s newly-implemented policies requires mask-wearers on University property to carry identification or have another way to identify themselves to a University official if asked. According to Bonner, exemptions to this policy include costumes for holidays and theatrical productions, religious or cultural attire and facial protection for certain jobs or professions. Some critics of pro-Palestinian protests and encampments in Virginia have cited a law that prohibits wearing masks in public with the intention of hiding identity, which was first implemented as a means of preventing Ku Klux Klan activities in the state.
Assoc. Education Prof. Walter Heinecke said that the new masking policy is an over restrictive effort by the University to crack down on protests at the University.
“They’re making it easier to arrest students by saying ‘If you’re wearing a mask and you don’t show us your ID, you could be arrested’… this is overly restrictive, it’s an overreach and it’s meant to quell public protest,” Heinecke said.
The University also modified policies around permissible locations for protests, specifically defining the border of the Academical Village as land surrounded by University Ave. and McCormick Rd., including the location proximate to the Chapel where the May 4 encampment was situated. Restrictions around use of the Academical Village, due to its historic nature, are particularly strong, prohibiting tables and tents without express permission.
Camping on Grounds — an act without an express definition in the policy — is also now expressly prohibited, with additional rules banning sleeping outdoors between midnight and 6 a.m. No tent, unless used by the University or for official University events, is allowed to remain standing during that same time period and is also not permitted to be used for more than 18 consecutive hours.
The University’s policies surrounding the use of tents garnered criticism in the days surrounding the encampment clearing, when it was found that a document from the Office of Environmental Health and Safety surrounding fire safety regulations for tents was modified the morning before the clearing, which seemingly would have exempted the encampment from requiring a tent permit. The University administration later said that the clause in this document was inaccurate and inconsistent with existing University policy which required all tents to receive permits prior to their use on Grounds.
The updated policies also stipulate that no events whatsoever will be permitted on Grounds between 2 and 6 a.m, and unless it is for a University event — such as the Lighting of the Lawn — no image can be projected onto a University facility or property.
Fourth-year College student Anushka Dar said she is concerned about the implications of the policy changes, as well as how their implementations might affect students of marginalized communities, such as students of color or students with disabilities — communities which she said are especially likely to be affected by restrictions on mask wearing. She added that the policies, though not unexpected, seemed opposed to the values of student self-governance
“It seems hypocritical and antithetical to what the school stands for,” Dar said. “As the student body we should be controlling the decisions that pertain to our daily lives.”
University Spokesperson Bethanie Glover said that the new policies were prepared with consultation from the Policy Committee of the Faculty Senate. Heinecke, however, disputes this claim. He said that the policies do not seem to have been updated in a manner that promotes shared governance, the principle of faculty and administrators sharing responsibility over University activities.
“There's a practice and a norm at the University of Virginia that any changes to University policies have to go through a vetting process in which the Faculty Senate Policy Committee receives the draft, then sends it out to constituents — which means all faculty members — to provide input for 30 days,” Heinecke said. “It doesn't look like that's happened.”
Finn Trainer contributed to the reporting in this article.
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