University of Missouri report would clarify campus free speech policies

A committee formed in January at the University of Missouri is set to release a final report of recommendations on how the university can better address free speech and campus protests.

The Ad Hoc Joint Committee on Protests, Public Spaces, Free Speech, and the Press was formed in January by Interim Chancellor Hank Foley and Faculty Council Chairman Ben Trachtenberg.

It is made up of students, faculty and administrators. Trachtenberg said many of the faculty are First Amendment scholars.

Its purpose, according to the university website, is “to help everyone on campus understand their rights and responsibilities with respect to campus protests and the use of public space.”

Committee chair Robert Jerry said the report will provide clarity on what policies are in place at the university and how they can be applied based on federal and state regulations involving free speech.

“It’s not our job be propose those policies be changed one way or another but if they’re relevant and lawful, our report will mention those and talk about them to some extent,” he said Tuesday.

He said there likely will be a new policy recommendation related to reserving outdoor spaces

“The university does not have right now a clear procedure for how one reserves space on campus,” Jerry said. “One of the things you can anticipate we will do is create a proposal policy that all members of the university committee can use to reserve space outdoors and in buildings where they can have student organization meetings, expressive activities, protests, any number of kinds of activities.”

He said the report will also explain where unscheduled spontaneous protests can occur.

“It’ll get specific,” he said. “I think what we’ll be able to do is make a proposal that makes sense out of those kinds of issues while we at the same time make clear that with the exception of very few spaces, most spaces in the campus will be available for unscheduled spontaneous free speech and activities.”

That includes Carnahan and Francis Quadrangles as places where these activities would be able to take place.

Carnahan Quad was the site of last year’s protests led by the group Concerned Student 1950. The group erected a tent city on the quad for several days that included a hunger strike and the ultimate resignation of UM System President Tim Wolfe.

“There’s already a provision that would seem to prohibit overnight camping. It wasn’t written perfectly but most public space doesn’t allow random people to sleep out there,” said Trachtenberg. “I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they suggest that overnight camping wouldn’t be allowed unless a permit is given for a good reason.”

Jerry said there are some instances where that kind of activity could put the health and safety of students at risk, so that needs to be clearly outlined.

But he made clear Tuesday that’s not to say they will or won’t recommend enforcing a policy relating to overnight camping and the report will make that more clear once it comes out to the public.

Trachtenberg also said this report is going to be as public as possible and will contribute to an ongoing conversation on free speech and First Amendment rights that will extend into the fall.

“We’re going to talk this to death,” he said. “Students are most regulated by this. It will also affect visitors and faculty, staff. We’ll use the summer to give people time to think about it hard. We’ll come back in the fall when people are here and we can talk about it.”

When ABC17 News reached out to the university to find out why the policy against outdoor camping was not enforced in the fall, spokesperson Christian Basi said told had been “reviewing the information” but MU Police Chief Doug Schwandt would be the one to address that question.

He did not call our reporter back on Tuesday.