Rattled by a wave of student demonstrations in the spring — resulting in more than 3,100 arrests nationwide — colleges across the country spent the typically slow summer months crafting new policies on campus activism.
The Chronicle reviewed nearly four dozen campus policies — 29 at public colleges, 15 at private colleges — that were created or updated since the spring semester to restrict the time, place, or manner of student protests. The new guidelines address the use of masks, amplified sound, and tent encampments, among other issues.
Some institutions have put in place broad restrictions, such as Rutgers University, whose three campuses now require protest organizers to “apply for and receive an approved Free Expression Permit in advance.” A handful of campuses updated their policies to prohibit specific speech, such as New York University, which forbids “calling for the death of Zionists.” The institution’s new policy notes that “using code words, like ‘Zionist,’” does not automatically exempt speech from its nondiscrimination policies.
Others now reserve the right to charge protesters for cleanup or, in the case of Tarrant County College, in Texas, overtime pay for police officers during after-hours demonstrations.
On their first day back at the University of Southern California, students lined up at newly restricted gates for campus security to scan their identification cards. Upon entering, new signs warned them of a possible “secondary verification screening” and that bags and personal items would be “subject to inspection.”
Columbia University, still reeling from the arrests of more than 200 students during protests in the spring, spent the summer drawing up new restrictions on campus access. Gates that had been open to surrounding streets for decades are now manned by Columbia security and privately contracted guards. Throughout campus, officials have installed a network of movable fences and gates that can be rolled across walkways to cordon off certain areas.
Here are key takeaways from The Chronicle’s analysis of 44 institutions.
41 restrict encampments.
Twenty institutions ban student encampments, a popular tactic of pro-Palestinian campus activists in the spring. An additional 21 restrict or regulate camping to some degree. Only three of the policies reviewed by The Chronicle made no explicit mention of tents, encampments, or “temporary structures.”
In August, the University of California system directed all 10 of its campuses to publish policies forbidding encampments and “unauthorized structures” on their campuses. The change, President Michael V. Drake wrote, was made in the hope of achieving “an inclusive and welcoming environment at our campuses that protects and enables free expression while ensuring the safety of all community members.”
20 prevent students from concealing their identities.
Four institutions ban hiding one’s identity with a mask, while another 16 restrict the wearing of masks or require demonstrators to identify themselves when asked. Activists have long argued that the wearing of masks and other efforts to hide their identities are necessary steps to protect against doxxing and online harassment. But many of the policies reviewed by The Chronicle argue that administrators must be able to differentiate between students and outside activists.
At Wake Forest University, the updated student code of conduct reads: “The university has the right to ask for identification. … Members of the external community who cannot or will not provide identification may be asked to leave.”
38 limit the use of amplified sound.
Sound amplification was the second-most-common type of explicit restriction mentioned in campus policies; the most common was tents.
Two institutions ban all sound amplification, while 36 restrict it in some manner. Central Michigan University, for example, requires that students apply for a permit to use “public address equipment, sound vehicles, and amplified musical instruments.” Other institutions restrict the time or place in which amplified sound is permitted — barring it within a certain distance of classrooms, or after sunset.
34 restrict the time or place that protests can happen.
Beyond some pre-existing “free-speech zones,” 34 institutions extend their policies to explicitly prohibit protests or occupations inside campus buildings or administrative offices.
Harvard University, for example, states the following in its newly updated policy: “Events, programs and activities (including but not limited to exhibits and displays) must not impede or block ingress or egress to or movement within and around campus buildings, classrooms, administrative offices, or other spaces.” The university also specifies “blackout dates” — including reading periods and oral exams — during which protests and other events are “generally not permitted.”
The University of Wisconsin at Madison, meanwhile, now forbids “expressive activity … within 25 feet of entrances to university-owned or university-controlled buildings and facilities.” At Indiana University’s campuses, “expressive activities” are now permitted only between the hours of 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.
Increased repercussions for activism
Although protesters were arrested nationwide for trespassing and other infractions of campus policies, local courts have largely dropped low-level misdemeanor charges or offered plea deals. Some colleges, however, have moved forward with disciplinary action outside of court through student conduct cases.
Institutions have placed holds on transcripts, demanded lengthy apology letters, and withheld diplomas from students who were set to graduate days before their arrests. In some cases, colleges have even expelled students or handed down yearslong bans from campus.
Last spring, the University of Florida vowed to enforce its protest policies, including a ban on sitting in chairs, and ultimately suspended some students for three to four years. The university had thrown out lighter suspensions recommended by a conduct committee of faculty, staff, and students.
At USC, meanwhile, 74 students faced conduct cases for allegedly violating campus policy during the spring protests, with some receiving interim suspensions through the summer. In a recently released statement, USC officials said many of those cases had been resolved, but some are undergoing a “resolution process” for academic suspensions, which could last until the spring semester.
Note: The Chronicle’s sample of 44 institutions were mostly pulled from an earlier database of colleges where student set up encampments in the spring of 2024. Others were identified through news coverage or public announcements.
