The University of Missouri will adopt new and amended policies regarding demonstrations and protests across campus on June 1, university officials announced Thursday. The changes were drafted by the Ad Hoc Committee on Protests, Public Spaces, Free Speech and the Press, and later approved by Interim Chancellor Hank Foley.
Bob Jerry, the chair of the Ad Hoc Committee, says the most significant policy members addressed establishes all outdoor, on-campus venues as public forums. This was technically already state law, as the General Assembly passed similar legislation in 2015, with time, place and management restrictions. Still, Jerry says this university policy was key.
“I think the protection of these core values, the affirmation of these core values, is the most important thing this set of policies do,” he said.
Another significant change deals with an old regulations that many people are likely unfamiliar with. A new policy on amplification devices, such as megaphones, on campus states that such devices are subjected to state and federal decibel regulations unless the university specifies otherwise. Under current policies, any amplification device on campus is technically illegal. According to Jerry, this would mean computer speakers in offices or speakers playing music at outdoor events are not allowed.
“That’s absurd,” Jerry said. “Not only does it make no sense, there had never been a boundary drawn about reasonable use of amplification devices as far as demonstrations on campus.”
Other policies include a reaffirmation of an old rule banning camping on campus without permission from university officials and regulations on posting signs on campus.
The new and amended policies can be found in the university’s Business Policy and Procedural Manual.