Gonzaga is ‘trying to ban protests without banning protests,’ students say
Students and faculty say new Gonzaga University policy limiting campus protests restricts free speech and could be targeted against demonstrations in support of Gaza.
News story by Erin Sellers | RANGE Media
Near the top of the official Gonzaga University Instagram feed is a carousel of glossy photos celebrating the university’s most recent accomplishment: being named as one of the top 390 colleges in the United States by the Princeton Review. The post proclaims (with a white hand emoji) that the university has the “most politically active students,” and a third photo in the series is of a student protest on campus — focused on a sign that reads, “No Justice, No Peace.”
However, four days before that post, on Aug. 23, university administrators quietly approved a new policy limiting all protests on campus, without the usual student and faculty feedback process that informs university policy decisions. The policy, which went into effect two days before students were even notified it existed, was created to “prioritize the safety and well-being of all community members, while creating opportunities for civil discourse, founded in our shared mission of being people for and with others,” according to an email from John Sklut, the chair of the university’s Policy Coordinating and Advisory Committee.
To the contrary, students and faculty members argue that the policy will prevent them from many forms of protest they have historically used to hold the university accountable, following a nationwide trend of universities moving to limit speech after last year’s campus protests against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
‘Complex times’
The policy was established by university President Thayne McCulloh on an interim basis, an option employed in “situations where a university policy must be established in a time period too short to permit the completion of the process delineated in this policy,” according to the university’s posted policy development and approval process.
The policy will expire in six months unless it is approved by the lengthier official policy development process.
Though Gonzaga spokesperson Jamie Aitken said student protestors last year “did a very good job” expressing themselves respectfully, and he was unaware of any Student Code of Conduct violations at demonstrations, it was still necessary for the university to move quicker than the usual policy process to create guidelines for protesting before the new school year started on August 27.
RANGE tried to get more detail regarding the need for urgency with the policy— especially since campus protests remained peaceful last year — but did not receive a clear answer from administrators.
“These are complex times. When was the last time something like this was happening across campuses, across the US and across the globe?” Aitken said. “When has that happened?”
Standing in solidarity with those who oppose hate, prejudice and racism
Aitken, who was not with Gonzaga in 2020, was unable to explain the university’s differing response to last year’s protests — the creation of a new policy to limit protesting — and its response to the 2020 national protests after Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd, when then-Provost Deena Gonzalez sent an email to all staff and students that read, in part:
“While it is never appropriate to set fires, loot, or respond in physically injurious ways to officers of the law and to first responders, we have witnessed this level of emotion and destruction repeatedly across our nation’s history. Applicable to far too many events in the racial past of this country is what Dr. Martin Luther King named in one of his many exacting speeches: ‘What is it that America has failed to hear?’ Increased militarization to ‘restore’ order has its own problematic history; and as many seek a way to express their emotions or politics about George Floyd’s death, and that of so many others before him, as a Jesuit, Catholic and humanistic university, we can offer prayers, but we can do even more: to practice a faith that does justice, whether we endorse or support, or not, what is happening right now in this country’s cities.”
She added that, “Gonzaga stands in solidarity with all those who oppose hate, who oppose prejudice, who oppose racism — and daily affirms its commitment to working proactively and constructively to create a culture and society where the dignity of each and every individual is treasured, honored and celebrated, and the words ‘equity,’ ‘inclusivity’ and ‘justice’ are truly hallmarks of our way of proceeding.”
The new policy determining what kinds of protests and demonstrations are allowed on campus does not use the words “equity,” “inclusivity,” or “justice,” once in its entirety.
What the policy does say
The interim policy does, however, cite an executive order from former-President Donald Trump that exempts private schools from the free speech laws that govern public universities and sets stringent new restrictions on what kind of speech is allowed on campus.
Language in the policy seeks to regulate demonstrations — which are defined in the policy as “demonstrations, protests, encampments, marches, walk-outs, sit-ins, and similar assembly and expressive activity on Campus” — and speech, defined as “both oral and written speech as well as other forms of communication and expressive activity, including recordings, posters, signs, banners and gestures.”
What the policy bans
The policy bans demonstrations and speech on campus that include:
- Protesting on campus by “third parties” — anyone not a current student, staff or faculty member, including alumni, family members and community groups.
- Protesting in buildings.
- Protesting before 8 am or after 8 pm
- Protesting that is so noisy it interferes with people’s “use of nearby university buildings,” “subjectively reasonable residence hall room use expectations” or “city of Spokane noise ordinances.”
- Protesting that prevents anyone else from expressing their views; for example, playing the trombone or standing with a large sign in front of another protestor.
- Protesting that blocks any campus roads, paths, sidewalks, parking areas or building entrances and exits.
- Leaving or displaying signs, posters or banners used during a protest. (If the student in the Instagram holding the “No Justice, No Peace” sign left her sign on campus or displayed it by hanging it from any campus building, she could be in violation of this rule.)
- Using chalk or other substances like spray paint or permanent marker on university surfaces.
- Projecting images or hanging banners on university buildings without prior written approval.
- Drumming of any kind for more than five minutes per hour.
Any student who violates the policy could face expulsion, though the policy describes it with the euphemism “separation from the university.” Staff and faculty members who break the rules could also be terminated with cause for “willful violation of major policies,” according to the process outlined in the Faculty Handbook and Policy and Procedures Manual. “Third-party” protesters on campus would first be given a no-trespass order. Spokane police would respond if anyone, including students, doesn’t comply with university staff orders.
Tensions on campus
Because of vague language in the policy — like the unclear definition of what constitutes “expressive activity” or a disruption to classes or the use of buildings — student organizers Kevin Pinkelman and Juliana Maucione fear it will be selectively enforced against protests that challenge the university.
They pointed to student protests that sought to hold Gonzaga accountable for its investment in arms manufacturers that supply weapons to Israel, as well as the school’s membership in the Inland Northwest Consortium — a partnership of aerospace and tech manufacturers (that includes weapons) and educational institutions.
Protests by Do Better Gonzaga included a walkout and march, which blocked entry to one door of a building with signs, involved members of the wider Spokane community and featured drumming. They also wrote chalk messages on sidewalks, hung posters and dropped banners from university buildings — all things that are banned under the new policy, though the language makes it unclear whether protests like walkouts that begin in a building would be forbidden.
Professors worried in emails exchanged on the faculty listserv, which were forwarded to RANGE, that the policy was an attempt to limit free speech, academic freedom and peaceful protests. Gonzaga spokesperson Aitken confirmed that administrators created the policy in direct response to student actions last year, both on campus and nationally.
“It is important prior to the beginning of the academic year to create clear expectations regarding expressive activity so that all campus academic and business operations and the residential living experience can continue without disruption, as well as maintain campus safety and security, and promote student, faculty and staff well-being,” Aitken told RANGE in an email.
Prioritizing civility over justice
Student protests are not new at Gonzaga. In the past 20 years, notable actions on campus have included multiple protests against visits to campus by the Westboro Baptist Church; rallies calling on the administration to divest from fossil fuels; marches against labor injustice; protests against Gonzaga Board Trustee Timothy Barnard, whose company was contracted to build part of the U.S.-Mexico border wall; and the Gonzaga women’s basketball team kneeling to bring attention to racial and social justice issues.
Gonzaga students, staff and faculty members have also participated in protests centered on local and national issues, and the administration commonly issues emails after national and global events in solidarity with marginalized communities.
Aitken added that the university is “committed to supporting [student protestors] in that work,” and that the intent of the policy was to give students and faculty clarity on how “these demonstrations and expressive activity can be done and supported.”
But students and faculty members with whom RANGE spoke didn’t feel like the new policy added clarity. Instead, they described an “infuriating” directive that was intentionally vague, left too much room for selective enforcement, prioritized civility over justice and ran counter to the university’s mission statement, which states (in part): “The Gonzaga experience fosters a mature commitment to dignity of the human person, social justice, diversity, intercultural competence, global engagement, solidarity with the poor and vulnerable and care for the planet.”
“It just felt like they were trying to ban protests without banning protests,” Maucione said. “They make these really strict and limited rules that confine the way we express ourselves to this appropriate manner that doesn’t bother anyone, but they claim they’re supporting our expressive activity and our ability to push for social change.”
Instagram vs. reality
In the list of “foundational documents” that outline what Gonzaga’s mission statement means are numerous links that repeatedly highlight the Jesuit Order’s commitment to fighting for social justice, which has left students feeling frustrated and misled about where they chose to put their tuition dollars.
One day after the policy was communicated to university staff, Sociology and Criminology Professor Andrea Brower — touted for her activism on the university’s social media channels — responded with her own email.
“As somebody who studies and participates in social movements and social change, I find this new ‘Interim Policy on Demonstrations and Overnight Activity on Campus’ deeply problematic and inconsistent with a ‘social justice’ mission,” Brower wrote, in part. “The new policy demonstrates how very little those at the top of this purportedly social justice oriented institution understand (or care to understand) about processes of actually achieving justice in a world of radical oppression, violence and hierarchy.”
Brower wrote that one of her students raised the point that the language of the policy focuses on civility at the expense of justice, running counter to “actually winning meaningful change toward justice.”
The eight-page policy never uses the term “justice.” The words “civil” or “civility” are used nine times.
“We have to recall when we’re having these conversations and Gonzaga is putting it all in the language of civility and cooperation and consensus and following the rules that justice is not handed down from on high, it has to be fought for,” Brower told RANGE.
‘It’s pretty confusing’
Student organizers expressed similar frustrations to RANGE.
“I think it’s infuriating. … It fundamentally contradicts not only the university’s mission and the Catholic and Jesuit traditions, but it also contradicts so much that I’ve learned in classes,” said Do Better Gonzaga organizer Pinkelman. “Those classes have taught me that disruptive demonstrations and true civil disobedience are critical to achieving success when going up against power. In one of my classes, we talked heavily about the Civil Rights Movement and sit-ins and highway protests. Those would all be banned under the policy.”
Fellow student organizer Maucione added that, “It’s pretty confusing as a student, because they want us to care about social justice, but they don’t want us to care too much because then we’re going to get too activist-y and we’re going to actually want to organize collectively with our fellow community members for positive change.”
“I just think a lot of people are pretty frustrated because we come to this university that swears at us that it’s driven by its mission, yet it only selectively mobilizes that mission when it’s about protecting its business as usual and the status quo,” Maucione added.
Pinkelman chose to attend Gonzaga from his hometown of Chicago in part because he “liked Washington,” and because he was drawn to the university’s social-justice values, which university representatives reiterated in his campus tour and freshman orientation.
Pinkelman also commented on Gonzaga’s recent Instagram post featuring a protest photo and boasting of the politically engaged student body, writing, “Laughable and infuriating to see the university share photos from a demonstration that would now be banned. It is blatant hypocrisy for GU to pride itself on student political engagement while prohibiting any effective political engagement on campus.”
New policy contradictions frustrate students and faculty members
Other students also railed against the contradiction expressed on Gonzaga’s Instagram post, with one reading, “How are you going to restrict students [sic] political activity and free speech on campus and then use it for your marketing??” and another stating, “to proudly post photos and boast of student-led protests that you are actively trying to cease, control, limit and dismiss is truly shameful and of the utmost hypocrisy. As a Jesuit institution, you should be encouraging those who speak out against injustice, as Jesus taught us to do.”
Other faculty members who emailed the professor listserv en masse also felt like the new policy ran afoul of other parts of the university’s mission, vision and goals. Philosophy Professor Joan Braune took particular issue with the restrictions banning “third parties” from campus.
“Is this the message we want to send about our relationship with the Spokane community? Is this who we are when we say we stand for social justice and for solidarity,” Braune wrote, in part. “That you are welcome to visit, donate, or attend basketball games, but that if our students are protesting, you need to stay away?”
‘They are not a nuisance’
“It is sending a very clear message to students: Some administrators at Gonzaga have no interest in even paying lip service to student demands,” Dr. Jenaro Abraham, a political science professor, wrote in his email to other faculty members. “Whether you agree with their demands or not, students must be treated as integral parts of our community, with a voice that must be respected. They are not a nuisance. They are what makes this university great.”
Aitken told RANGE that the policy is in line with the university’s mission, and that it walks the line between committing to freedom of expression and preserving Gonzaga’s ability “to teach, engage in scholarship and research, promote the arts and athletics, convene the community, and perform its everyday operations within a safe and healthy campus environment.”
Brower said she was unsurprised that Gonzaga was tightening restrictions on protests and freedom of speech on campus, but that the new policy and the process by which it was implemented was “very telling of where the university’s priorities lie.”
“Frankly, I think it illustrates the stark contrast between their purported social-justice mission and their actual policies and actions,” she said.
Student input welcome if new policy becomes permanent, says Gonzaga spokesperson
Regardless of the perceived attempt to chill campus discourse, the university community has maintained a vigorous and ongoing debate about the new protest policy.
Maucione said they discussed the policy in her classes, and people across the political spectrum were frustrated by it — even students who disagreed with the protests last year or who aren’t politically active.
The policy “creates a lot of fear that this will just become the norm and nobody will be allowed to engage in demonstrations,” Maucione said.
For students and faculty members frustrated with the policy, Aitken stressed that it is interim and the process to create a permanent protest policy will involve faculty and student input opportunities.
Meanwhile, Pinkelman said student organizers are going to “continue putting in the work, fighting against the university and trying to build an even stronger community that’s ready to fight back and protect each other.”
Editor’s Note: The reporter is a graduate of Gonzaga University, attending between 2017 and 2021. The story was slightly edited post-publication to clarify one of Aitken’s statements, note that he was not employed at the university in 2020 and clarify the rule around protest signs.
This story was republished from RANGE Media, a worker-owned newsroom in Spokane. Sign up for their free newsletter to get news and tools to make the Inland Northwest a better place right in your inbox.
