An EQUAL SPACE for ALL

The spring semester of 2024 was a national and international disgrace for American higher education, very far from our boast of being the envy of the world. At home and abroad, the public saw images of encampments, occupations of campus buildings, noisome antisemitic harassment, and presidents of prestigious universities unable to control their campuses or explain consistently the principles by which they supposedly governed them.

Peaceable assembly and freedom of speech are core values of our nation, and they are absolutely essential in higher education. Time, manner, and place restrictions to ensure campus order are also equally important, and they are protected by precedents in case law. Implementing such restrictions serves free inquiry, civil discourse, and academic excellence by ensuring that everyone has a right to learn, participate in campus activities, and use campus spaces. Failure to understand and implement these legitimate prerogatives for protecting the campus and its operations is to invite disaster.

The attached guide outlines a list of practical steps that governing boards can take to ensure that the academic community as a whole can access equally the campus square and be free of harassment. No matter what the motivation or cause, acts of intimidation have no place in a venue for liberal education.