Florida college students return to campus amid restrictions on protesting

Balloons welcome University of South Florida students to its Sarasota-Manatee campus on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (Photo courtesy of USF)

Florida’s college and university students are starting the academic year greeted by friends and professors — and by warnings from administrators and Attorney General Ashley Moody about how to express their views on campus.

The directives follow nationwide protests over Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza. While the scale of protests has varied nationwide, some led to arrests, including at the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of South Florida, and the University of North Florida.

Last week, Moody sent a letter to all 40 Florida public college and university presidents reminding them “of the zero-tolerance policy for antisemitism in the State of Florida.” Most Florida students started classes during the last two weeks of August.

“As we begin this new school year, let us renew our commitment to making Florida the best State in the nation for education and the safest State for Jewish students. Thank you for your service to our State and your commitment to fighting discrimination,” Moody wrote.

As protests popped up nationwide , events at UCLA , for example, led Jewish students to file a lawsuit against that university, claiming it had enforced a “Jew Exclusion Zone.”

A federal judge last month instructed the university not to obstruct access to activities and programs for Jewish students. Moody addressed the UCLA episode in her message to Florida schools.

“I also want to advise you that failing to protect Jewish students would create significant legal risk for Florida colleges and universities,” Moody wrote, warning that failing to do so “may also put federal funding at risk.”

University of South Florida

At the University of South Florida, President Rhea Law emphasized safety to students and faculty in the new year, calling on “everyone to do their part” to treat each other with respect.

Law enforcement broke up an April protest at USF’s Tampa campus with tear gas, The Oracle reported . The protest, according to The Oracle, saw 10 people arrested as some 100 people participated in a pro-Palestine encampment.

“We condemn hate speech, and will not tolerate discrimination, antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, or bigotry,” Law wrote in a welcome note to students.

Law’s letter included a reminder that the university had updated its policy on campus activities and discrimination over the summer. USF now requires approval to erect tents, canopies and signs and to use audio amplifiers. The university addressed overnight protests, too, by prohibiting actions later than 5 p.m.

The discrimination policy update includes a prohibition on antisemitism and Islamophobia, specifically, and any other forms of hate based on religion or cultural heritage.

“ USF values the right to free speech, expression, and the open exchange of ideas, which we recognize are central to the mission of a university, even if we strongly disagree or find some of what is said to be offensive,” Law wrote. “However, we will not allow violent, disruptive, or aggressive acts that do not comply with university policy or the law.”

Deans of students on USF’ three campuses sent a statement to students to start the school year, updating them on the new policies.

“Constitutionally protected views or ideas expressed may be objectionable or offensive to some,” the deans wrote. “Just because it is occurring on our campus, does not mean that USF supports the content being expressed. To be clear: USF condemns antisemitic expression, along with all other instances of hateful expression targeting individuals because of their shared ancestry or cultural heritage. This includes USF’s condemnation of Islamophobic expression.”

Additional Florida universities — FSU, the University of West Florida, University of Central Florida, and UF — have seen tighter protest rules since October.

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Samples in the system

University of Florida interim President Kent Fuchs said in an interview with WCJB that he wants to make clear to students that “we have policies, there are laws, and we’re going to enforce those.”

“So indeed this coming year we won’t allow encampments, we won’t allow masks that are intended to disguise identities of people, and we won’t allow protesters or others to limit the activities of others, you know, to close down classrooms or occupy buildings, no indoor protests,” Fuchs said. “That we’ll be pretty strict about.”

He added that he wants to avoid arrests.

FSU passed a policy this summer prohibiting camping, building shelters and barriers, use of amplified sound, concealing or covering identity when protesting, and failure to observe reasonable adherence to university policy.

The FSU changes came less than two months after students protesting the war on campus were arrested and had water sprinklers turned on them .

The response from the university was “absolutely political repression,” according to Joelle Nuñez, president of the Tally Students for a Democratic Society. Nuñez told the Phoenix she felt her organization was being “targeted” by the new policy.

The University of North Florida will consider changes to its protest policy on Sept. 30, including a definition of “time, place, and manner” detailing prohibited acts and clarification of “obligations to comply with directives of University officials,” according to a UNF statement sent to News4Jax .

University of West Florida trustees are set to vote on changes to its speech, assembly, and public expression policy during their Sept. 12 meeting. The changes include revising and clarifying definitions for “expressive activities,” “outdoor areas,” “restricted areas,” and the “University Community.”

The new rules would prohibit overnight camping without authorization, picketing indoors, using fire, audio amplification, and expressive activities that “create a material and substantial disruption of university functions.”

In June, UCF approved a ban on camping on campus. The board voted to prohibit events from taking place later than 8 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday and they cannot last longer than five consecutive days.

During the meeting in which the decision was made, audience members spoke only in opposition to the measure, Central Florida Public Media reported.

UCF released a policy proposal last week that, if approved, would prohibit blocking walkways, doors, roadways, parking structures, windows, or any entrance to a university facility or space, and face coverings “with the intent to intimidate any person or group, or for the purposes of evading or escaping discovery, recognition, or identification in connection with or during the commission of a violation of law, regulation, or policy.”

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