‘Blindsided’ students fume over Western University’s new campus protest policy

Student groups in London, Ont., say Western University’s new protest policy restricts their rights and will have a chilling effect on campus free speech. 

Groups now have to get authorization from Western’s director of campus safety and emergency services (CSES) at least five business days before a planned demonstration, the new policy, which goes into effect Aug. 29, states. 

If approved, the director will provide “reasonable directions including time, location and manner for the demonstration,” the policy said. Protests can only happen from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday and individuals can’t advertise protests until they’re approved, according to the new rules. 

“This seems like a very blatant attempt from Western to depoliticize and really suppress student protests on campus,” said Eva Deligiannis, a second-year graduate student and member of the student-led climate crisis coalition at Western.

“It’s clear to me that this is an indirect response to the encampments that we saw this summer and I think the university was intimidated by the growing collective strength of our voices and they were really trying to crackdown on that.” 

The environmental justice group frequently protests Western’s investments in the fossil fuel industry and its sustainability portfolio. It also supported pro-Palestinian encampments that stood on Western’s campus from May to July. 

The new policy requires individuals to email CSES with information including: the demonstration’s purpose, an organizer’s contact information, a date and time and proposed location and how many people are expected to attend. Applications can be denied if the proposed demonstrations can result in undue risk to an individual, the university, or violate the law. 

No one from university administration was available for CBC’s multiple interview requests, but a spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the university will continue to support peaceful protest and the policy’s goal is to maintain a safe campus. 

“If an event is approved, CSES will work with the organizers to develop a plan that prioritizes the safety of the attendees as well as the wider campus community, while ensuring normal university business can continue,” spokesperson Stephen Ledgley wrote.

Decisions will be based on an assessment of the requested event and any potential risks outlined, Ledgley said, adding that if anyone holds a demonstration without approval, they may be redirected to another location or the event will be forced to end. A failure to follow these rules may result in sanctions or trespassing charges. 

New rules disappointing, student council says 

The new rules came as a shock to the university’s students’ council, an independent student-led organization which advocates to administration on behalf of undergraduate students. 

“We think this procedure is disappointing as it has a direct impact on student’s freedom of expression,” said council president Emilie Kalaydjian. “We were not consulted by admin, and considering that we partake in regular meetings with senior leaders at Western, ultimately we feel blindsided,” she said in an email. 

“The procedure doesn’t lay out any repercussions, but will have a chilling effect on free speech on campus. Just the introduction of this procedure alone has made students feel that their right to peaceful protest is not welcome on campus.”

The policy does not create a trusting environment between students and administration, said Munya Haddara, a representative with Western’s Muslim Students Association.

“This university is basically saying it doesn’t trust students and is in a position where they have to control every aspect of students’ advocacy,” she said. “Whether the idea is to keep people safe doesn’t really matter much when you look at the impact this is going to have.”

Protests often follow major international events and can’t always be planned in advance, Haddara said. Both Deligiannis and Haddara said groups were previously never required to consult with CSES but students did so on their own accord to ensure things ran smoothly. 

“We really believe the university is not there to police student protests and that a protest with permission isn’t really a protest because it’s not pushing any boundaries, criticizing or targeting the points that we take issue in the same way,” Deligiannis said. 

Policy clashes with freedom of expression: former law prof

The policy will potentially clash with the university’s freedom of expression policy from 2018 and may violate Charter rights, said Michael Lynk, a professor emeritus of law at Western.

The 2018 policy states that all members of the university’s community have “the right to examine, represent, question, advocate for and comment on any issue without reference to prescribed doctrine.”

It also includes the right to criticize the university and society at large and states that while protests may generate controversy and disputes, the university’s role is to provide an open and inclusive environment where debate, challenge and disagreement should be expected.  

“There’s no sense of recognition in this new policy that freedom of expression is going to be taken into account about how broad it is and how narrow the exceptions should be with respect to holding demonstrations, because they are protected by freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association,” said Lynk. 

“Its absence makes me worried that the university will wind up making poor decisions that are contrary to its mission with respect to allowing or not allowing demonstrations.”

Lynk, who was on the committee that created the policy six years ago, said North American universities have a decades-long history of student protests, which are essential to their core missions and limiting that will inevitably result in pushback.