<p>I feel like most administrative writing like that is pretty hard to understand. It is unlikely that a freshman would know that individual students couldn’t organize. But, that’s not the point. I said that I think it’s pretty reasonable to think one would maybe think that they should have to get some sort of written permission to organize a huge meeting on the quad. I think that the student should have looked into the procedure/researched at the minimum. Then, when he applied, he would have have found out that he needed to be in an organization. I just don’t see how you think UA isn’t letting students express themselves. I’ve seen several protests/rally type things on the quad and at the ferg over the past several years. All of those people seemed to be able to understand UA’s policy on ground use. I do feel bad that the students weren’t allowed to make their video, but I think UA had the school’s best interest at heart, continually promotes expressionism, made the right decision, and would make the same decision again.</p>
<p>The grounds use policy and its enforcement seem heavy handed to me. I guess I believe in a more liberal interpretation of the First Amendment than others here.</p>
<p>Riprorin, I typed out a very long response to your PM and tried to send it only to realize I still don’t have 15 posts haha. It’s so frustrating to me that they have that requirement. I don’t want you thinking I’m ignoring you or something.</p>
<p>That must have been frustrating, but the good news is you now have 15 posts!</p>
<p>UA has a permit process that student groups work hard to follow. Part of the issue is the long lead time required to get a permit, which makes it difficult to stage a counter protest, especially when the event being counter protested was announced less than 48 hours prior to the start of the event. UA has also been known to deny permits which should have been approved and consider public right of ways to be University property and to send police to break up events which are legally occurring on private property and are approved by the property’s owner.</p>
<p>Part of the speculation surrounding UA’s approval of a grounds use permit for the Westboro Baptist Church is that UA did not want to risk a lawsuit should the permit be denied. </p>
<p>Another point of contention is the University’s chalking policy which prohibits commercial advertisements and chalking in certain area, both of which are routinely ignored. UA does not have a system in place for reporting violations of this policy, but certain staff members have gone on their own accord or had the facilities department come and remove chalkings which were not in violation of any of the rules. </p>
<p>As a brief bit of history, UA did not have many protests in the late 1960s. The major protests occurred in 1956 protesting the enrollment of Autherine Lucy and in 1963 protesting the enrollment of Vivian Malone and James Hood. However, the Ferguson Center does lie on ground formally occupied by a semi-abandoned wooden gymnasium which was burnt down by an FBI informant in the 1960s and the blame placed on UA students.</p>
<p>There is also a movement in place to include mention of the University’s slaveholding past in the campus tour by including mentions of the slave cabin next to the President’s mansion and the existence of the student cemetery which contains the remains of two slaves who worked on the University’s campus.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the purpose of the First Amendment is to protect speech that may be considered offensive or objectionable. Polite speech needs no such protection.</p>