Speech Spotlight: Supporting Student Activism

Supporting Student Activism Over the past few months, students have led the way in responding to the urgent crises the United States now faces. Students are volunteering at food banks, designing new medical technology, and advocating for a safe and equitable policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, they are organizing protests and advocacy campaigns to demand an end to police violence and systemic racism.

This wave of civic engagement and participation by young people is an unprecedented phenomenon in recent history that presents an opportunity for institutions of higher education to help students more fully embrace their roles as individual actors in a democratic society.

Engaged campuses ​carefully cultivate​ a ​culture of civic​ ​leadership​ that is evident in every aspect of student life. In a study of politically engaged college campuses, the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at Tufts University (IDHE) identifies, “[political learning and engagement] is something that is practiced and modeled year round and is deeply embedded into institutional norms, behaviors, and, as several participants on the positive outlier campuses told us, ‘the way things are done around here.’” By promoting a spectrum of engagement opportunities linked together into a culture of civic engagement, institutions are better able to help their students build and commit to lasting habits of democratic participation.

Over the course of the next several Speech Spotlight editions, we will explore different campus engagement pathways. We began this examination in February with our ​Engaging Student Voters​ i​ ssue, and continue with this installment on student activism and the role it plays in creating an embedded culture of civic participation.

Student Activism Is Connected to Broader Democratic Participation Student protests and activism are a central component of political participation on college campuses and should be supported as an important aspect of civic engagement. On the most politically engaged campuses, ​IDHE finds​, student voices were not only supported, but often helped shape institutional policy. When students protest, they note, “the administrations respond by authorizing them to study the subject and draft an institutional policy for consideration.” (11)​ ​As Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, director of Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) noted in a recent ​USA Today​ article​, young people gathering for rallies and protests creates “a bond that allows them to feel like they are civic leaders in their communities.”

Enabling student activism and empowering student voices encourages students to participate in the democratic process. ​“Effective Strategies for Supporting Student Civic Engagement,”​ a May 2018 edition of NASPA’s ​Student Affairs Insights​ series, discusses the link between student activism and other forms of democratic participation. “Faculty, staff, and administrators need to understand that protest is a healthy, democratic pathway for impacting change,” the report notes, and is a necessary part of creating a culture that supports civic engagement. As Mamta Accapadi and Micki Meyer, student affairs administrators at Rollins College, discussed in their op-ed in the ​Orlando Sentinel​, “By dismissing student activism, we are creating the perception that their concerns aren’t important and that they have no role to play in a larger societal struggle to address issues that, in freespeechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu

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many cases, have plagued us for decades. The greatest risk, of course, is that they will internalize this message and withdraw from the national conversation about how to create a more perfect union, when we need them to be taking their place as change makers and leaders in our society.”

Encouraging students to be passionate advocates for the future they want to live in helps them embrace their role as individual actors in a democratic society and contributes to a thriving culture of civic participation on campus.

Student Activism in 2020 2020 has thus far seen a wave of student activism unlike any time in recent history. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated health and economic crises, students have stepped up to support their local communities and advocate for effective and inclusive policy responses. And, following the tragic killing of George Floyd, ​students have led protests​ across the country to demand an end to the systemic racism that has plagued the United States for too long.

Taken together, the events of this year have given an incredible number of young people cause and motivation to explore activism as a pathway for democratic change. When students bring this surge of activism back to campus with them—whether in-person or virtually—colleges and universities seeking to create civically engaged campus communities have an obligation to understand the ongoing movements and support this activism as an important display of civic engagement.

COVID-19 Coping with the challenges of the pandemic has ​not slowed campus activists down​. As the headline of a recent Education Trust article states, “In the age of Coronavirus, Student Activism is More Relevant Than Ever.” Recently, climate activists at American University ​successfully mobilized​ 93% of the student body to vote in a recent online referendum urging divestment from fossil fuels. Graduate ​student activists​ from the University of California system launched “Strike University, a collection of online classes and teach-ins with titles like ‘Organize Your Department’ and ‘The Precariat and Popular Power.’” And the national Sunrise Movement launched its ​Sunrise School​ as “an online community where we're building the skills and power we need to confront the crises we currently face.”

Our third Speech Spotlight edition, “​Expression and Engagement During COVID-19​,” highlights how student activist movements have adapted swiftly to virtual engagement methods over the past few months.

An ​article in​ The Nation​ last month further details how activists are rapidly adjusting to a virtual environment because, they write, “even after the pandemic, they’re worried about their future.” And, as The Education Trust​ describes, new student movements, such as those at ​Pomona College​ or the University of North Carolina​,​ ​have also recently emerged to advocate for students and communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Student activists have also focused their energy on ensuring their schools are acting safely and equitably in providing COVID-19 accommodations and creating reopening plans. ​Student Voice​, a national network of student advocates who seek an “education system where students and adults work as partners to create meaningful change in their schools and communities,” launched their “​Move School Forward​” campaign to promote 10 student-created principles for reopening. Similarly, students at ​Northeastern University​ created the Coalition for Affordability, Responsibility, and Equity (NU CARE) with the “goal of protecting the health and well-being of the Northeastern community and the broader public.” Unhappy

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with the school’s reopening plan, NU CARE organizers issued a list of demands and circulated a petition to encourage university administrators to keep the “interests of students and workers in mind.”

In light of the pandemic, activism and civic engagement have taken on new forms as the higher education community is mobilized to ​find solutions​ to the ongoing public health and economic crises. The higher education ​community as a whole​ is now focused on the public applications of its mission and responsibilities to society. Colleges and universities around the country have opened their dormitories or food service facilities to first responders and vulnerable populations, hosted testing and blood donation sites, or made research and data widely available to the public. Academics and student researchers alike have pivoted their research focus to provide policy recommendations and advocate for effective solutions to the current challenges. While these efforts are not necessarily political in nature, they are nonetheless an expression of many institutions’ civic missions and commitments to leading and supporting their communities.

Black Lives Matter College students, who were ​already at the core of the Black Lives Matter movement​, are leaders in the current national reckoning on the persistence of systematic racism in the United States. Students have organized protests, launched social media campaigns, coordinated legislative and government advocacy agendas, and called on every individual and institution to take a stand in support of racial justice. As highlighted in IDHE’s ​Campus Actions​ program, many colleges and universities are already engaging meaningfully with student activists and instituting important reforms to strive for greater racial equity on their campuses and in their communities.

In order to adapt to the restrictions of the COVID-19 era, students have designed new techniques to lead this movement. A recent ​NPR article​ highlights the leadership and activism of five students who have made innovative contributions to educate and mobilize their communities. Other students, ​like those at Loyola Marymount University​, have also been particularly effective in raising money for bail funds and other organizations supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. Whether creating an app to share the stories of victims of police violence, collecting data on politicians supported by police unions, launching social media education campaigns, or designing signs to place in predominantly white areas, ​students around the country ​are finding new ways to express their message safely and effectively.

While the events that sparked this recent outpouring of passionate activism are profoundly sad, many are hopeful that institutional change may finally be on the horizon. Many communities who have historically been excluded from democratic participation are now energized to protest, advocate, and vote. When students return to campus this fall, whether virtually or in-person, they will undoubtedly bring this fervor for change with them. In this critical moment, colleges and universities have the opportunity to elevate student voices and to assist them in creating a lasting culture of civic participation.

Legislative Challenges to Student Activism Recent laws passed in many states throughout the country pose a threat both to the right to protest in general and to campus activism in particular. A recent ​PEN America​ report entitled “​Arresting Dissent: Legislative Restrictions on the Right to Protest​” describes how largely youth-led movements, such as Black Lives Matter, the Women’s March, and the Climate Justice movement, have inspired state legislatures to begin “introducing bills meant to suppress, restrict, or criminalize the right to protest at an ever-increasing rate.”

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Drawing from research conducted by the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School, PEN identifies 116 bills proposed between 2015 and 2019 which limit the right to protest.

As described in the report, these bills primarily function by expanding the definition of or heightening penalties for disruptive conduct, charging protestors fees for clean-up or law enforcement presence, or making public or private individuals (such as police officers) immune from liability for harm caused to protestors. All of these laws make it more difficult, costly, and dangerous for activists, including those on college campuses, to exercise their right to protest.

In addition to general legislative restrictions on the ability of activists to organize protests, many state legislatures are pursuing laws or policies that specifically target college students. According to the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law​, at least 15 state legislatures have considered or passed bills which require public universities to impose mandatory disciplinary sanctions on students engaging in disruptive protest.

Supporters of such legislation, like ​the Goldwater Institute​, argue that that the proposed legislation will prevent public colleges and universities from disinviting controversial speakers, require institutions to abolish speech codes and "free speech zones," and require colleges to publish a formal statement affirming that its "primary function is the discovery, improvement, transmission, and dissemination of knowledge by means of research, teaching, discussion, and debate." They also advocate for mandatory penalties to dissuade students from protesting in a way that disrupts other university functions.

Opponents of such legislation, ​including the American Council of Trustees and Alumni​ and the ​American Association of University Professors​, prefer that an institution’s administrators, not lawmakers, determine campus protest policies. They raise the concern that these types of laws will deter student protestors by threatening severe disciplinary action, including expulsion, if their actions are deemed too disruptive. As Daniel Hurley, CEO of the Michigan Association of State Universities ​writes​, balancing the tension between encouraging speech and activism and maintaining a safe and productive learning environment, “is a matter for careful on-the-ground management, not legislation.”

In November 2019 the Center hosted a Congressional briefing, “​Legislating Campus Speech: What’s the Government’s Role?​,” during which the Center’s Executive Director Michelle Deutchman led expert speakers Julie Schmid, Executive Director of the American Association of University Professors and Jonathan Butcher, Senior Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation in debate and discussion on Capitol Hill to consider whether state laws are the best way to address these pressing issues.

Institutional Support Recognizing that activism and protest are important pathways of democratic action and civic engagement, many colleges and universities are finding effective ways to support student activists on campus. Drawing on examples of campuses which successfully support student activism, NASPA’s “​Effective Strategies for Supporting Student Civic Engagement​” guide recommends campuses seek to “understand the various models that are available to support civic engagement in higher education,” “create a culture that supports student activism through a review of institutional practices, procedures and policies,” and study the effects of these efforts on student participation. Institutional support, often in the form of public statements, policy commitments, and willingness to listen, is critical to creating an environment in which students feel their opinion, and thus their participation, matters.

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To communicate their support for student participation and assist students in facilitating effective activism, Middlebury College offers all incoming students a workshop on “​Informed Activism: Understanding and Navigating Open Expression and Demonstration Policies on Campus.”​ Designed to help students feel more comfortable and confident in their ability to demonstrate, protest, and advocate on campus without fear of punishment, the workshop walks students through Middlebury’s free expression policy and encourages them to think critically about current events and how they can respond. Renee Wells, Middlebury’s Director of Education for Equity and Inclusion, who organizes the workshop, ​says the “idea behind the workshop is that I want students to feel like they can protest if they want to…Preparing students to critically think about what’s going on around them and to respond and advocate for things they believe in actually prepares them for the greater context we live in.”

Similarly, UC Center fellow and ACLU attorney ​Emerson Sykes​ is developing a series of learning and discussion sessions for student activists. Through his ​fellowship project, entitled “First Amendment for Student Activists,​” Mr. Sykes is working to teach young people about the ways in which the first amendment can be a tool to elevate their voices and support their activism. Understanding how the first amendment works, he notes, better prepares students to effectively respond to incidents on campus and in the broader community (for example, ​while protesting​). Adam Cooper, a graduate student at UC San Diego and a participant in this project, notes that participating exposed him to many other activist groups on campus and helped him better understand the legal framework that applies to protest and activism.

Another important venue for institutional support of student activism is the classroom itself. Spoma Jovanovic, ​UC Center Fellow​ and University of North Carolina, Greensboro Professor of Communication Studies, writes in a ​book chapter​ entitled “Communication, Dialogue, and Student Activism” that the renewed energy around encouraging student voting and political participation makes the moment right for considering how best to teach the forms of expression “vital for ensuring a strong democracy.”

Drawing on the long history of student activism, Prof. Jovanovic encourages instructors to teach their students about the tools activists have historically used to fight for meaningful, lasting change. Jovanovic states, “​To teach and nurture student activism requires instruction about our country’s history... To support students in learning about activism requires we give them opportunities to talk with local organizers, as well as options for engaging directly in community campaigns and protests. At the same time, as educators we need to encourage and teach students to be courageous so that they can sustain their long-term involvement in matters of justice.”

Providing students with lessons and examples of successful activism is an important component of equipping them to be effective advocates and engaged community members. In her ​UC Center fellowship project​, Prof. Jovanovic is studying the ways in which activists have made lasting change in the United States and using that information to create an instructional resource for students and community members.

Spoma Jovanovic, Emerson Sykes, and Adam Cooper recently participated in a webinar entitled “​The Shifting Landscape: What Will Speech and Activism Look Like in Higher Education?​” as part of the Center’s “Expression and Engagement During COVID-19” ​webinar series​.

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Guiding Questions The COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the 2020 election will undoubtedly make college campuses-- whether physical or virtual -- hotbeds of engagement and activism this fall. The guiding questions below are designed to assist institutions in utilizing this resource to effectively support student activists and cultivate a culture of civic engagement on campus: 1. In what ways do campus administrators interface with student activists? a. Are there clear avenues to communicate with campus administrators who can assist in facilitating effective protest and activism? b. Could student government play a role in coordinating this communication? c. Is it clear to students that their voice and participation are valued by your institution’s leaders and administrators?

2. Are free-speech and protest policies designed and implemented to support student leaders in organizing effective displays of activism? a. How or where can students receive guidance and training on these policies? Who do they go to with questions? b. What course of action is taken if students violate these policies? Who is tasked with communicating with protestors and how are they trained to do so? c. In what ways might these policies need to be updated to accommodate COVID-19 restrictions while protecting the rights to speech and protest?

3. How can your campus facilitate and encourage student activism in the COVID-19 era? If your campus remains closed in the fall, what steps can you take to provide an alternate forum for organizing and activism?

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WHY IT MATTERS

Thoughts from Adam Cooper PhD. Student, S​ lade Group UC San Diego

“Student activism bridges the gap between academic study and the real-world challenges students are training to face. Activism allows for a positive outlet for developed perspectives and continued motivation to pursue integral academic skills necessary to effect change. Without this presence on campus, universities are falling short on their stated mission to not only be places of transferring knowledge, but of nurturing societal advancement.”

Thoughts from Spoma Jovanovic Professor of Communication Studies UNC Greensboro 2019-2020 Center Fellow

“Students need to know how to access grassroots resistance movements and conventional modes of political action to enter civic spaces where issues are hotly contested. As educators, we can support students in their quest to be activists and organizers by marrying our disciplinary interests with the opportunities that free speech and civic engagement present. The fact is our pedagogical opportunities are somewhat fleeting in the lives of students. Thus, making learning relevant for the demands of today, and connecting today’s events to our history are critical to teach students about their place in the unfolding and rich story of what democratic engagement can achieve.

The instructional turn toward civic education and student activism reclaims our public spaces as free speech centers. That is, engaged instructional methods that promote democratic skills do not only offer critically important and rich experiences to students, but they also foreground ethical priorities necessary in our communities to resist oppression and discrimination in its many forms in favor of justice, equality, inclusion, and love.”

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Thoughts from Emerson Sykes Staff Attorney ACLU 2019-2020 Center Fellow

“It’s always a good time to support student activism. Campuses have long served as laboratories for new ideas and new social movements. Young people have enormous power to shape our culture and our future. It’s an honor to work alongside student activists as they navigate tough questions and push for change.”

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