Whether an issue of free speech or a problem of communication between the university and students and staff, the Sankofa rally at UConn raises important questions.
On August 28, UConn held a pep rally for the football team on a patio outside the Student Union. The 6:00 pm event included the UConn marching band and cheerleaders, and was emceed by UConn IMG Sports Radio Network -- pretty typical for this sports-crazy campus.
Just around the corner a few weeks later at 6:30 pm, a predominantly African-American student organization called Sankofa held a rally and vigil in honor of Michael Brown. The group says it was denied the use of sound amplification and microphones by the university. UConn is in disagreement with students over the details of their request, but Stephanie Reitz, university spokeswoman, said, “Neither the Student Union staff nor the university itself makes judgments based on the content or organizers of the events.”
Members of the group, and their faculty advisers, have started asking questions about whether there’s a double standard for social groups and sports teams, whether the university dissuades free speech, and whether university policies are at odds with student protest.
University Use of "Civility" as a Concern on Campuses
In February, UConn President Susan Herbst issued a civility task force report. It stated, "in order to instantiate the means of civil discourse and a meaningful change in culture, students must learn and practice the values of civility in all aspects of their life at UConn, curricular and co-curricular, and at all of UConn's campuses."
"For a person of power to lecture people about civility, it comes across as if [Herbst is] saying, 'don't challenge me.'"
Noel Cazenave
Noel Cazenave is a UConn professor and unofficial advisor of Sankofa. He’s concerned by the microphone policy and connects it to the university tendency to discuss “civility” more than social protest. “Talk about civility outside of the context of social justice is nothing but accommodation, acquiescence and submission,” he said. “For a person of power to lecture people about civility, it comes across as if she’s saying, ‘don’t challenge me.’”
Similar discussions are happening on other campuses, including University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In early September, UIUC Chancellor Phyllis Wise blocked the recent hiring of tenured professor Steven Salaita. A little more than a month later, Salaita staged an off-campus news conference where he spoke out against his termination. He said it was “because of the University Administration’s objections to [his] speech that was critical of recent Israeli human rights violations.”
Chancellor Wise wrote on her blog that the decision was not based on Salaita’s position on the conflict in the Middle East. But she also said that the University supports all perspectives that are voiced in a “scholarly, civil and productive manner.”
Cazenave believes this sort of message about “civility” indicates that administrators are trying to “control the actions of students, especially student protesters,” while failing to preserve their right to free speech and collective protest.
Reitz argued this is not the case at UConn. UConn welcomes and prizes social protest and speech, she said, adding that “none of the decisions were based on the content of the event, and we categorically deny any suggestion or implication you may have heard otherwise... we are glad that this new organization has formed and is promoting discussion of important social issues such as Michael Brown's death."
However, Sankofa Secretary Jovonne Pullen finds the university’s support is stronger for events like sports pep rallies. “When it comes to sporting events and a few other events there's a lot of support, there are emails sent... sometimes classes even get cancelled to allow students to attend the event and get credit for being [there]. But that was not the case [for our] event.”
Pullen sees UConn mascot ‘Jonathon’ attending all of the sporting events and mentions, “it would’ve been nice to have him sitting in the front of our ‘hands up, don’t shoot’ photo.”
Pullen is concerned with the universities priorities, “We weren't going to bring the university money, or fans, or donors, or anything of that nature, but we would've shown that UConn does care as much as it says it does.”
Cazenave agrees, and finds the university’s argument for not allowing microphones at the rally as “specious.” He noted that microphones come with volume control, and can be set at a level that projects sound, but does not disrupt nearby classrooms.
At the nearby University of Massachusetts, where similar rules about amplified sound are in place, students say they get a different message from the school. “I feel our administration is not anti-rally,” said Josh Odam, the student leader of a march and rally honoring Michael Brown. “People in the administration might be concerned about problems with the disruption of class but we are definitely not anti-rally,” he said.
Ultimately, Cazenave believes UConn’s reasoning has less to do with disturbing classes and more to do with controlling dissent. To him, the rallies represent an extension of what he and other professors do in the classroom and therefore should not be seen as in conflict with the educational process.
“It has to do with the ability for UConn students to have their voices heard loud and clear,” he said. “It’s a freedom of speech issue; it’s a right to peaceful assembly and protest.”
