UW-Madison releases updated protest policies ahead of fall semester

The University of Wisconsin-Madison updated its protest policy Wednesday, now called the Expressive Activity Policy, in an attempt to reaffirm existing policies and clarify explicit violations.

Revisions to the protest policy include restrictions on “expressive activity” within 25 feet of university facility entrances, size limitations for signs in buildings, specific sound amplification restrictions and restrictions on protest activity during select times on campus areas typically used for photos like the Abraham Lincoln statue at the top of Bascom Hill. 

UW-Madison defines expressive activity as activities protected by the First Amendment including “speech, lawful assembly, protesting, distributing literature and chalking.” 

“The robust exchange of ideas and viewpoints is central to a university,” said Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin in a UW-Madison statement Wednesday. “That means that we will often engage with ideas and perspectives that may be new to us, and that might, in some cases, cause us unease or discomfort.” 

The goal of the changes is to “educate” campus on free expression, “provide transparency and expand civil discourse programming,” according to the Wednesday release.

“The overall goal of this effort is to ensure that the foundational work of the university — inquiry, research discovery, scholarship, teaching and learning — continues unhindered,” the statement read.

Over the last semester, student groups and free speech advocates told The Daily Cardinal UW-Madison protest policies were subjective, unreasonable and antithetical to the ideas of protest.

These changes come after a 12-day pro-Palestine encampment on Library Mall late in the spring. Encampments are prohibited by Chapter 18 of UW System Administrative Code. 

On the third day of the encampment, Mnookin authorized area law enforcement to raid the encampment.

Sound amplification, graduation photos

Handheld speakers, such as bullhorns or bluetooth speakers, are now allowed without prior authorization. All other sound amplification, whether for “planned events or spontaneous activity,” requires granted permission.

Amplified sound is now defined as a noise disturbance when above 85 decibels in an indoor area 50 feet or more from the noise’s source. Eighty five decibels is the equivalent of the sound of a food blender, a noisy restaurant or heavy traffic heard from inside a car, according to Decibel Pro, and is considered the maximum safe level for prolonged exposure of over eight hours.

Now, the Abraham Lincoln statue at the top of Bascom Hill is not allowed to be blocked during the week before the fall semester begins or the week of commencement each semester. During the encampment, some protesters sat in at the statue while graduating seniors took grad photos. Similar restrictions apply to the graduation year numbers at the base of Bascom Hill. 

The updated policy also gives the UW-Madison Police Department the authority to increase the distance that “expressive activity” is restricted from “when necessary to protect the safety of individuals or university property.”

This change to the protest policy follows other universities around the nation, including the University of California system and Indiana University Bloomington. The University of California system, as well as the Cal State system, recently revised their rules to ban encampments and unauthorized structures, such as barriers, as well as banning protesters from concealing their identity in any way with masks. 

Fellow Big 10 school Indiana University-Bloomington introduced a policy in late July that, like UW-Madison’s, will ban camping and prohibit “‘expressive activity”’ within 25 feet of the entrance to any building or parking lot and between the hours of 11:01 p.m. and 5:59 a.m. 

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