For three weeks last year, the Students for Accountability and Reform camped out on Old Main lawn. They occupied the lawn in protest. They weren't protesting tuition increases, an astronomically high student-to-teacher ratio and even the increase in parking fines from $15 to $50.
They were fighting for the rights of people they had never met. They asked the University to ensure that Penn State's logo would not be branded on clothing made in sweatshops. The student-campers braved cold harsh nights, criticisms from students who didn't understand their goals, and the deaf ears of a university administration who refused to listen to them. When the administration agreed to accommodate a few basic requests of STAR, the campers ended their occupation in good faith. According to STAR, the university later changed or revoked these assurances.
This March, two weeks before the anniversary of STAR's occupation on the lawn, the university administration passed a new policy. University policy AD-57 forbids camping without prior official approval, making this form of public protest almost impossible. Many criticisms arise immediately — including the observation that this policy is redundant, because there are already existing policies which use much of the same language of AD-57. But the university wanted to send a clear message on which forms of speech are acceptable and which are not. Despite Penn State's recent attempts to portray itself as the guardian of free speech, many students know that the university only asserts the constitutional rights of its students when it finds them convenient. Even students who fought side by side with the university against Rep. John Lawless' attacks on free speech knew that it was only a matter of time before the administration would turn from friend to foe and attack the students constitutional rights, just as Lawless had.
It is painfully obvious that university policy AD-57 was crafted specifically to counter the free speech rights of the STAR. But the university's vengeance isn't just acted out against STAR. Every member of the Penn State community now suffers an abridgment of their free speech rights. We all lose. It is unfortunate that the university administration is so bothered by the content of their critics' speech that they seek to end it. Perhaps this indicates that the message of STAR's protests is hitting a little too close to the mark. We can only guess. Policy AD-57 is unjust. Its far reaching scope fails the Supreme Court's test of reasonable limits on a protest's time, place and manner. Policy AD-57 is unethical. It is clearly an unprofessional and ill-conceived retaliation against STAR and their occupation on Old Main lawn. Policy AD-57 is quite possibly unconstitutional. Only time and the courts will tell.
During their 20 day occupation, STAR only enjoyed five days of sunshine. The cold, the wind, the rain and the snow all took their tolls on the morale and spirit of the campers, but they were united in the face of adversity. Now is the time for the rest of the university community to stand behind STAR, united in the face of adversity. Now is the time to join their calls for justice and accountability from the administration.
Not just for our rights to free speech, and not just for STAR's rights to free speech, but for those new generations of Penn State students whom we have not yet met.
In solidarity we stand.
