Ohio State faculty, students discuss changes to 'space standards' in wake of spring protests
Ohio State University faculty, staff and student representatives discussed civic engagement and the university's updated space standards at Thursday's University Senate meeting.
Many at the university were introduced or refamiliarized with the standards this spring when protests broke out at Ohio State and on college campuses nationwide in response to the ongoing war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel.
A total of 41 individuals were arrested over three days of protests on Ohio State's campus in late April , ending with state troopers dispersing a crowd of around 300 on April 25 following nearly six hours of chants, prayers and the construction of a tent encampment.
More: Can you protest on your college campus? Here's what Ohio State's 'space rules' say
Since at least 1998, Ohio State has relied on a set of "space rules" when making judgement calls on when and where to limit free speech on campus. The rules are reviewed over the summer every four years, said Anne Schira, Ohio States's senior associate general counsel and director of legal operations and strategic initiatives.
Public universities are government entities bound by the Constitution, so students on public campuses have free speech rights protected by the First Amendment, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free-speech advocacy nonprofit better known as FIRE.
Space rules fall under "time, place and manner" guidelines, meaning that a university is "allowed to maintain reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on student speech in public areas of campus," according to FIRE.
Ohio State "can make rules about the time, place and manner of the use of our spaces, as long as they're content-neutral and consistently enforced," Schira said.
How did Ohio State's 'space rules' change?
Kellie Uhrig, Ohio State's associate vice president for operations in the Office of Student Life, said one goal of this summer's review was "to knit together" various policies and standards universitywide.
The working group received feedback that it could be hard to know how all of the university's freedom of expression policies — like the space standards, signage standards and free speech policies — interact with each other.
One of the first changes was updating the language from space "rules" to space "standards" to better align with other university guidance.
The document also includes a definitions section, defining terms like "event" and "“university authorized activity." Schira said the previous space standards included many of these definitions, but they were scattered and embedded within the rules themselves, making them difficult to locate.
One of the updated terms is "restricted noise," which Schira said references an existing university disruption rule that's been in place since 1986.
Restricted noise is defined as "noise disrupting the function of the university." That can include, but is not limited to: amplified sound (such as shouting, megaphones, and "other noisemaking instruments"); shouting or chanting that disrupts official university business, or noise that occurs during the restricted hours, according to the space standards.
Restricted noise does not include "noise which is necessary for the conduct of official university functions, including noise related to construction, maintenance, and landscaping."
The updated standards removed a 100-person requirement for events because that is difficult to enforce, Schira said.
Additionally, the space standards clarified and updated a section on the timing and duration of events.
The updated standards also added closing times for outdoor spaces. Events ending after 10 p.m. are not permitted unless previously approved.
"All of our buildings on campus have closing times," Schira said. "I think we were actually a little bit surprised when we look to see that outdoor spaces didn't have a closing time listed."
There is an exemption policy that event organizers can apply for to meet beyond 10 p.m.
According to the document, those events must: be confined to a single 24-hour period; not occupy the same or adjacent spaces on consecutive days; not have outside or inside habitation be the primary focus of the event; and be reviewed and approved by a the Ohio State Department of Public Safety, Facilities Operations and Development, Department of Athletics (where applicable) and the Office of Student Life.
Some question how the space standards are applied
Some University Senate attendees questioned and dismissed the space standards revisions.
One attendee, who left before The Dispatch could get her name, said the updated space standards "heavily restrict the ability for students to peacefully protest."
She said she was disappointed by the restrictions on amplified sound, specifically the use of a megaphone in indoor spaces like the Ohio Union, which she said has "historically been the center of student-led movements."
"If our university mission includes fostering students who are educated and engaged citizens, these restrictions are abhorrent contradictions that run counter to the very missions and values that we took time today to speak about, such as free speech. that this university claims to uphold," she said.
Others at the university have raised questions about how consistently these space standards are applied following what happened during the spring protests.
In an interview with Ohio State President Ted Carter and The Lantern, Ohio State's student newspaper, student reporters said recent events left some confused as to how the standards apply to different campus events.
When 36 individuals were arrested during on-campus protests on April 29, the first arrests took place around 10:16 p.m., according to previous reporting by The Dispatch. As the arrests started, a small group of individuals were praying while students and other protesters circled around them.
In August, more than 800 individuals gathered on north campus for a baptism ceremony facilitated in part by Ohio State football players. According to The Lantern, OSU spokesman Ben Johnson said the event was scheduled to end at 9:45 p.m., but event organizers cleared out closer to 10:30 p.m.
"When asked if violating the standards’ 'Tents and Temporary Structures' section results in harsher consequences for student activists in comparison to other sections, Carter said the April 25 protests only ended in arrests because of 'a planned attempt and a clear statement to violate (Ohio State’s) campus space rules,'" The Lantern reported.
Chris Booker, director of media and public relations for Ohio State's Office of Communications, issued the following prepared statement Thursday night: "The Ohio State University is committed to protecting the First Amendment right to free speech and expression while advancing intellectual freedom and promoting civic enggement.
"The long-standing university space standards are enforced uniformly, content neutral and publicly available online. Additionally, they have been reviewed every four years since 2016, and we worked over the summer with input from faculty, staff and students to ensure the standards are clear.
"Each year university staff, including members of the Office of Student Life and the Department of Public Safety, support hundreds of events across campus to ensure the right to free expression while limiting disruption of the university's mission and ensuring the safety of our campus community. The Department of Public Safety works in conjunction with students and student organizations to determine any necessary and required security arrangements — but final determinations regarding security arrangements are the sole decision of the Department of Public Safety."
Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for Extra Credit, her education newsletter, here.
@sheridan120
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Faculty, students discuss changes to Ohio State's 'space standards'
