IU Event Management approved a request from the University Alliance for Racial Justice to hold its upcoming free speech candlelight vigil at 10:30 p.m. Nov. 10, seemingly in opposition to the curfew enacted by the expressive activity policy. Now, IU administration is telling the alliance to revise its request.
An event organizer submitted the request at 3:49 p.m. Oct. 29 and it was approved within the same minute. IU professor and vigil organizer Heather Akou emailed Assistant General Manager of IU Event Services, Michael Kersteff, Oct. 30, to ask questions about time limits and further restrictions. Kersteff responded Oct. 31 and said the use of nonamplified sound and handheld candles past 11 p.m. is permitted. When Akou followed up to clarify if the time restriction applied to nonamplified sound and if candles are considered “signs or symbols,” Kersteff referred her to the expressive activity policy.
Section eight of the policy states that expressive activity can only take place between the hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. According to section seven of the expressive activity policy, amplified sound is permitted if it does not “disrupt the academic, living, or working environment of the University or its neighbors.”
In an initial email to the Indiana Daily Student, an IU spokesperson said, “There has been no change to the Expressive Activity Policy."
However, at 6 p.m. Monday, the IU spokesperson sent a follow-up email to the IDS saying the requestor did not mark the event as relating to expressive activity, which led Events Management to approve the vigil.
“Under the Expressive Activity Policy, expressive activity is permitted until 11:00pm,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “Events Management will follow up with the requestor to provide an opportunity to update the submission.”
In the request to IU Event Management, Akou stated the event was organized by the University Alliance for Racial Justice and that the event was a “Peaceful candlelight vigil to discuss and exercise our First Amendment rights.” The submission stated the event would be at Sample Gates, beginning at 10:30 p.m. Nov. 10 and that it was a “single occurrence event.”
Vigil organizer and IU professor emeritus Russ Skiba said IU had to have known the event was associated with the expressive activity policy.
Skiba said in a phone call, “It's very clear that the events management knew exactly what they were dealing with.”
Skiba continued his skepticism of IU. He suggested the administration’s decision to overrule the approval undermines the Event Management’s authority to enforce the policy.
“Will all future requests have to go through both Event Management and an upper administration review of the initial ruling?” he said in a text message the IDS.
Skiba also suggested the university may have changed their enforcement rules under pressures from perceived inconsistencies in the enforcement, pointing to the ESPN College GameDay event where students camped out overnight at Memorial Stadium and did not receive referrals. IU administrators said waiting in line for a university-sanctioned event is not expressive activity, according to an article by Indiana Public Media.
“At the initial meeting of the Board to consider the policy, one trustee opposed the curfew provision, stating that it would ultimately be unenforceable.” Skiba said. “That prediction has proven prophetic.”
UARJ and Protect IU, a group of faculty and students, have organized vigils this year to protest the policy and administration after the arrests at April’s pro-Palestinian encampment. The groups began holding free speech candlelight vigils every Sunday night at Sample Gates this semester, purposefully violating the 11 p.m. rule.
Akou said vigil organizers have not requested approval for the vigils before, but decided to try after seeing the administration allow students to camp in line overnight for College GameDay over the weekend of Oct. 26.
“It honestly really hadn't occurred to me to even ask for permission,” Akou said. “I assumed that it would not be granted.”
Police and administrative enforcement at the vigils have waned each week. At the first vigil, three IUPD cars were stationed on Indiana Avenue and administrators monitored the protesters. Surveillance has now been reduced to a minimum level, with Akou and Skiba saying no administrators or cop cars were present at the most recent vigil.
According to Akou and Skiba, 22 students and faculty and one community member have received referrals since the start of the vigils. These referrals from administration warn them of suspension or possible termination if they continue to violate the policy. The IDS has been able to independently verify nine of the referrals.
The referral enforcement has been inconsistent. While the vigils have gathered anywhere from 20-100 attendees each Sunday, the majority of the attendees have not received a referral while protesting past 11 p.m.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and IU community members, including Protect IU organizer Ben Robinson and graduate student Bryce Greene, filed a lawsuit against the policy on Aug. 29, calling the 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. protest ban unconstitutional.
In the press release, Protect IU said that this will be the final candlelight vigil due to its perception that the recent approval will end the 11 p.m. curfew. However, the release was published before IU announced the approval was based on incomplete knowledge of the event.
Skiba said that if IU revokes the approval, Protect IU will continue the Sunday night vigils.
Kersteff did not respond to requests for comments at the time of publication.
