Stanford’s New Protest Policies Ban Tents Overnight, Require Students to Remove Masks When Asked

Days before the start of its fall term, Stanford announced new “freedom of expression” policies amid a polarized presidential election season and the ongoing war in Gaza.

Among the biggest policy changes are an obligation to remove facial coverings when asked and a clarification of the camping policy, requiring that tents and structures be removed overnight regardless of whether people are present. Much of the policy is not new, but it centralizes rules regarding where and how students can protest, and it introduces a new reporting system for discrimination after multiple high-profile antiwar protests — including a barricade inside the office of the university’s president that resulted in 13 arrests — in the spring.

The new rule on facial coverings requires people to remove them for the purpose of identification “under circumstances covered by the Campus Disruptions Policy,” similar to policies introduced at other universities this fall. People could be asked to remove masks for identification if they are violating policy by disrupting or preventing classes, lectures, meetings and other activities, obstructing the movement of any person around a campus building, or refusing to leave a building that is closed.

“It’s a method of surveillance that a lot of students don’t necessarily feel comfortable with,” Emily Williams, who was a spokesperson for the Stanford Against Apartheid in Palestine coalition in the spring, told KQED. They said some students were worried about the “subjectivity” of the requirement.

“In a time where COVID-19 rates are rising and other infectious diseases, as people are returning from their travels for the summer, it’s a policy that might scare people out of wearing facial protection because of the fear of being surveilled or being singled out.”

The overnight camping policy, which disallows staying outside on university campus between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., has also been updated to prevent “setting up structures that remain between those hours,” regardless of whether people are in them. The policy was enforced in February, ending a sit-in by pro-Palestinian protesters on the campus’ White Plaza that had lasted more than 100 days.

However, Williams said that a later encampment set up in April was allowed to remain in place until June 5, when campus leaders dismantled it after the occupation of the president’s office by protesters. Stanford’s new president, Jonathan Levin, told the San Francisco Chronicle two weeks ago that the school would enforce and be clear about its policies this year.

In an email shared with students on Tuesday, campus leaders said the new Freedom of Expression website provides interim guidance on “the application of freedom of expression principles in different contexts around campus.”

“The focus of our policies is on having reasonable, viewpoint-neutral time, place and manner rules that leave ample channels for expression,” the message from Provost Jenny Martinez and Vice Provost for Student Affairs Michele Rasmussen reads.

The site also centralizes rules for events on White Plaza, where large “spontaneous” gatherings by campus affiliates are allowed without advance permission. The policy requires credence for planned events and adherence to “rules regarding amplified noise and other issues.”

Several other outdoor areas — Meyer Green, the groves next to the Oval, Manzanita Field, and Panama Street Clearing — have been designated for large events. Small gatherings can be held in a wider variety of settings, but events held at these locations with over 100 participants, loud sound, marching or running, or a high-profile speaker will be subject to new Major Event Protocol, which requires permission from the Office of Student Engagement or registration by a faculty or staff member. The site says permission won’t be denied based on the “viewpoint of speakers or participants,” but organizers must follow registration rules and work with campus authorities.

New policy also tightens rules on recording and taking photos of lectures and official course-related activities and limits allowed photos for personal use.

“Widespread recording may chill open discussion within classrooms when students are faced with the possibility of a comment made in class ‘going viral’ on social media,” the policy reads.

A second website linked in the provosts’ email also introduces a new Title VI process for students to report discrimination, replacing the university’s Protected Identity Harm Reporting (PIHR) protocol. It includes an early screen for reports involving speech protected by federal or state law, a structure for providing updates on existing claims and a dashboard for reporting incidents to the community, according to the message.

Leaders say the new process is in response to concerns with PIHR, including confusion about its purpose, the timeline for following up on submitted reports and “long-standing concerns about the potential for the PIHR process to chill freedom of expression.”

The new system is formed around Title VI, which prohibits institutions receiving federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, while the previous focused on “protected identity harm,” which the email calls “vague.”

Much of the guidance is “interim,” administrators said in the email sent to students on Tuesday, and some policies will continue to be evaluated over the next year.

Williams said that how students respond largely depends on how the policy changes affect their lives.

“I think it’s just a matter of being able to experience it first and see how they’re going to play into action,” they told KQED. “Student reaction could largely vary.”