ACLU of Massachusetts urges colleges, universities to defend free expression on campus

The ACLU of Massachusetts today sent a letter to Massachusetts college and university leaders emphasizing their duty to protect free expression on their campuses. The new letter follows an ACLU analysis of more than a dozen student speech policies after several colleges and universities changed their policies in the wake of year-long student protests regarding Palestine and Israel.

“Colleges and universities play a critical role in our democracy by providing a marketplace for ideas and expression, where multiple viewpoints can be explored and debate is encouraged,” said Jessie Rossman, legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts. “These democratic values are increasingly under attack by an incoming presidential administration and some members of Congress who aim to override free expression in service of their own ideological agendas. Colleges and universities are the first line of defense for their students and faculty, and we urge them to resist this new McCarthyism.”

The ACLU sent the letter to 77 Massachusetts colleges and universities before semesters resume during the new presidential administration. President-elect Trump has praised violent crackdowns on campus protests, aligning with his previous attacks on academic freedom. In particular, he has threatened reprisals against students who are not U.S. citizens, merging his attacks on free speech with his attacks on immigration. According to the new letter, the incoming administration heightens ongoing concerns about ensuring “that campus rules do not subject students and faculty members to ideologically motivated law enforcement and federal investigations, and to ensure that free expression flourishes in the Commonwealth.”

The new ACLU of Massachusetts letter addresses three categories of restrictions that pose special risks to student expression and offers the following recommendations:

1. Protect students’ ability to spontaneously protest in response to unanticipated events: Rules that require students to register their demonstrations days in advance, without exceptions for unforeseen or newsworthy events, repress student expression at the times when it is often the most essential. There are many occasions on which students may wish to spontaneously assemble and demonstrate, just as they did in the immediate aftermath of President Trump’s first Muslim ban. Indeed, sometimes the window for protesting an executive order or law before it takes effect or causes significant damage is quite narrow. University leaders should therefore make advance registration optional for demonstrations or, if not, at least establish explicit exemptions to their advance registration requirements for unforeseen events.
2. Ensure that students have ample channels for expression on campus: Policies that cordon students off to remote locations or narrowly limit the hours at which they can demonstrate unreasonably inhibit free expression on campus. Schools should ensure that students can reach their audience by allowing them to demonstrate in many areas of campus – especially in outdoor, high-traffic locations – and during a broad range of time.
3. Prohibit suspicionless identification checks of student demonstrators: Forcing students to produce ID at demonstrations when they have not broken any rule or laws chills speech. University leaders should consider the serious consequences of creating records regarding student speech and activism that federal agencies or Congress may attempt to subpoena.

The new letter is part of the ACLU of Massachusetts’ Free Expression Project.

For the full letter, go to: https://www.aclum.org/app/uploads/drupal/sites/default/files/open_letter_to_massachusetts_institutions_of_higher_education_regarding_campus_speech_policies_-_december_18_2024.pdf

To learn more about students' rights on public and private college campuses, go to: https://www.aclum.org/en/know-your-rights/free-speech-college-and-university-campuses-frequently-asked-questions

For more information about the ACLU of Massachusetts, go to: www.aclum.org