08/22/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/22/2024 12:46
A committee of faculty members, students and staff is in the process of reviewing the university's interim policygoverning protests and other expressive activities, and plans to issue a report early in the fall semester recommending a final policy for implementation.
The Committee on Campus Expressive Activity is charged by university leadership with making recommendations for the formulation of a Cornell policy that both protects free expression and the right to protest, while establishing content-neutral limits that ensure the ability of the university community to pursue its mission.
The committee met for the first time on May 7 and has been working continuously through the summer months, including reviewing peer institution policies, holding listening sessions and collecting feedback from the Cornell community via email ([email protected]) and through an anonymous survey link.
"I am grateful to the committee for engaging in a deliberative process to recommend an expressive activity policy that will serve the entire Cornell community," Interim President Michael I. Kotlikoff said in the spring. "Protest is an essential element of a vibrant community of diverse views and passions, and its protection is of the utmost importance to assure that power is held to account. However, our community cannot function without limits to disruptive conduct that infringes on the rights of others or constitutes hostile environment harassment to members of our community. It will be critical for the committee to recommend a framework with clear definitions and standards for determining reasonable restrictions to disruptive protests and appropriate disciplinary consequences."
Colleen L. Barry, dean of the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, chairs the 19-member committee, which includes representatives from across the university's colleges and schools, among them three legal scholars and members of the Faculty Senate, Student Assembly, Graduate and Professional Student Assembly and Employee Assembly.
"The committee is dedicated to recommending a content-neutral policy that will guide the Cornell community through periods of upheaval and protest for many years to come," Barry said.
Released in Januaryand updated in March, the interim policy sought to clarify and consolidate existing policies governing expressive activity, from hosting events to protests, postering, chalking and installations. It aims to support several of the university's core values: purposeful discovery, free and open inquiry and expression, and being a community of belonging.
"We value free and open inquiry and expression - tenets that underlie academic freedom - even of ideas some may consider wrong or offensive," the core values state. "Inherent in this commitment is the corollary freedom to engage in reasoned opposition to messages to which one objects."
The committee is aiming to complete a draft policy with an accompanying report by late September, then will meet with various shared governance bodies across the Cornell Ithaca campus and Weill Cornell Medicine to collect additional feedback in early October. The report will then be sent to Kotlikoff for final approval.
The committee's charge notes that finding the balance between protecting expressive rights and eliminating hostile working, learning and living environments is ongoing and at times challenging work. According to the charge, reasonable and content-neutral "time, place and manner" restrictions - including rules on when and where protests may occur and rules prohibiting interference with invited speakers or engaging in harassment - provide a framework for resolving inevitable conflicts.
"The Interim Expressive Activity Policy is designed to foster a diverse community of belonging, uphold the civil rights of all to be free from unlawful discrimination or harassment, protect public health and safety for all, and maintain the continuity of core academic operations," the charge states.
In its report, the committee has been asked to address three main objectives: to recommend an expressive activity policy that is legally compliant and advances the university's core values; to recommend a framework for accountability measures for individuals and groups whose policy violations undermine the policy's objectives; and to propose a strategy for educating faculty, staff and students about the importance of content-neutral time, place and manner rules.
Members of the Committee on Campus Expressive Activity are: