The University of Utah must uphold the principles of freedom of expression

The attacks on student expression are consistent with a broader trend of undermining academic freedom at the University of Utah.

University of Utah Police, with support from four state and local police departments, forcibly broke up a peaceful pro-Palestinian rally at the University of Utah last week. It is deeply concerning that police are using riot gear, crowd control munitions, mobile surveillance units, and drones in connection with these arrests. We demand that these tactics be immediately investigated and their compliance with current laws verified. But these tactics highlight a much larger issue than the current debate on campus.

We are faculty with experience in the Middle East and other parts of the world where human freedoms are not as respected and protected as they are in the United States. Authoritarian regimes use a variety of methods to exclude or obliterate dissent in academic institutions. Such tactics include punishing and expelling students and staff who express opposing political views, monitoring community members, and changing academic curricula to enforce a particular ideology. It is included.

With the rise of AI and the COVID-19 pandemic, our lives are increasingly under surveillance. We are no longer tied to traditional offices, and surveillance software and devices are now being brought into our homes. Some employers require constant access to devices and data to monitor productivity and ensure security, giving organizations greater power through advanced surveillance technology.

Sadly, technology-mediated surveillance was in full swing at the University of Utah last week when the president called police to campus, and police deployed advanced mobile camera surveillance stations and multiple drones to ensure peace. suppressed what was being carried out on a regular basis. Palestinian protests by university students and teachers. Monitoring Utahns who are practicing their cherished First Amendment right to dissent and peacefully protesting on the campus of an important state institution of higher education is a matter of personal freedom. This should be an opportunity for everyone who values ​​​​to pause.

Student protesters first arrived on campus on the afternoon of April 29th. Shouting and singing, they erected tents on the lawn of Presidents Circle, recently designated as a student camp. In just a few hours, more than 100 police officers in full riot gear moved in, arrested 19 demonstrators, and fired kinetic impact rounds to subdue the protesters. did. You might imagine these munitions to be like Nerf balls, based on a statement from a university spokesperson, but such “non-lethal” weapons can’t be used for blunt trauma, pain, or intimidation. is intended to cause. These can cause permanent injuries, and in fact, this use of force injured at least one protester.

On April 30, University of Utah police officers surrounded and arrested a leader of student demonstrators at the start of a protest. Another protest leader was arrested in front of the Huntsman Center during the graduation ceremony. The targeted arrests of protest leaders, perhaps made possible by digital surveillance, seem aimed at paralyzing the movement’s ability to express its ideas. In just 24 hours, our university had the swiftest and most extreme response to a peaceful student movement in the nation.

These attacks on student expression are consistent with a broader trend of undermining academic freedom at the University of Utah. In the recent legislative session, Utah lawmakers passed HB438 and SB192, which were signed by the governor. These laws protect faculty from dismissal for teaching controversial topics and ensure that academic programs are not unduly influenced by political considerations, two pillars of higher education: tenure and college. It undermines the role of teachers in the shared governance of the world. Another recent piece of legislation, HB261, would set back diversity efforts in public education. Utah’s anti-DEI law, unlike bans in some other states, does not target academic research or class materials, but it does target classroom discussions about racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression. There is a danger that faculty research will be stunted. In the name of protecting free speech, new rules were adopted last fall requiring university and college leaders to remain neutral on controversial issues.

All of these measures were passed without any strong opposition from universities. And they are forcing Utah’s flagship higher education institutions to follow state ideology-driven policies that seek to purge public universities of unpopular political views. The common approach by state and university leadership toward student protesters and faculty should raise red flags for everyone concerned with the integrity, and national reputation, of our state’s premier institution of higher education.

Of course, students’ right to protest and faculty members’ academic freedom are not unlimited. Supreme Court precedent has established that universities may hold protests for a reasonable amount of time, as long as the protest is content-neutral, serves a vital government interest, and the university provides adequate alternative communication channels. It is permitted to impose restrictions on places and methods. Thus, for example, the University may prohibit any expression that materially disrupts classes or university functions, involves the destruction of property, obstructs access to campus buildings, incites immediate unlawful conduct, or causes bodily harm. We may restrict expressions that are threatening or fall within the legal definition of harassment. Similarly, academic freedom does not protect against incompetence, harassment, or ethical violations by faculty. However, these are intended to be narrow exceptions, and the risks and concerns they cover do not exist at the University of Utah and are not at a level that would justify extreme action by state and university leadership. That’s for sure.

The University of Utah has to try harder. We must defend the principles of free expression and academic freedom that are critical to the mission of higher education, the national reputation of our universities, and our democracy itself.

Laura Kessler He is a law professor whose research has examined human rights and civil rights violations in Israel. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Utah.

saves safari He is a professor of physics whose research utilizes advanced imaging techniques and was partly raised in Iran. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Utah.

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