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Quiet semester at Rutgers sparks concerns about new protest policy
Coming off of a strong season of protests in the spring, Rutgers University seems unusually quiet this year with fewer students participating in rallies and demonstrations this semester.
In April, an update was made to a University policy on rallies and demonstrations held on Rutgers property to differentiate between the terms “free expression” and “disruption.” Now, student advocacy leaders are questioning whether the policy is to blame for fewer students expressing their voice in the fall.
“I get that student safety is important but the current policy now, besides common sense items like ‘do not obstruct vehicle, bike and pedestrian lanes,’ there are some things in reading the text itself that make you say, ‘Woah, this is against our First Amendment rights,’” said Adeel Ahmed, a Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) senator-at-large and a School of Arts and Sciences junior.
Ahmed is also RU Progressive’s co-president and said that, to him, in specific areas of the policy the language is vague, and he questions whether a student’s right to protest a guest speaker on campus is still protected under the new policy change.Nov 2 2017
