Evergreen State Revises Policy for Renting Campus Space
The policy, made by school administrators and the state’s attorney general’s office, outlines when and how public space on the campus can be rented out.
Evergreen State is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Wash., with an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students.
Evergreen State has joined the ranks of other public colleges across the United States by revising its policies for who is allowed to rent space.
The new policy, referred to as “Use of college facilities for expressive activities”, outlines when and how faculty, college groups and non-college groups can secure space on the Olympia, Wash., campus for events. The policy now says it will not provide space to “organizations which do not assure the college that they do not discriminate”, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The changes come several months after Evergreen president Dr. George Bridges met with a state Senate committee to request more money to help improve campus safety after weeks of student protests.
The protests cited unfair treatment of minorities and LGBT students at the liberal arts school.
A call made to police during a June 1 protest, threatening to kill students, shut down the campus for 2 days.
“What started out as anti-black comments on social media has turned into the dismissal of the rights of students and femmes of color, physical violence by police, and false sentencing of students protesting”, reads a statement from a group of protestors. “Black trans disabled students are actively being sought out and confronted by campus police constantly, police are refusing to explain their actions and harassment. Students will not stand for this anymore, as students of color have never felt comfortable on campus and have not been treated equally.”
The updated policy was fashioned by school administrators and the state’s attorney general’s office, created by an “emergency rule adoption”.
A section of the policy, titled “conditions of use”, outlines the school’s new anti-discrimination policy.
“The college will not make its facilities or services available to organizations which do not assure the college that they do not discriminate against any person because of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, age, disability, pregnancy or status as a disabled veteran, a Vietnam era veteran or other covered veteran, except where the organizations have been exempted from provisions of applicable state or federal laws or regulations,” reads the passage.
University spokesman Zach Powers says the new policy is meant to distinguish areas on campus that are public forums from areas on campus that would need to be rented.
The changes have received criticism for the fact that Evergreen a public college and not private. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a non-profit group that focuses on individual rights in American colleges and universities, says the policy is an overreach.
“Blatantly unconstitutional policies aren’t rare, but it’s usually an overbroad harassment code, for example, that will sweep in both protected and unprotected speech,” says Joe Cohn, a lawyer for FIRE. “This is, on its face, a blatant call that some viewpoints need not apply for the right to speak there.”
Cohn says eventually someone will legally challenge the policy and it “won’t get by anyone who is legally trained on these issues”.
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About the Author
Amy Rock, Executive Editor
Amy is Campus Safety’s Executive Editor. Prior to joining the editorial team in 2017, she worked in both events and digital marketing.
Amy has many close relatives and friends who are teachers, motivating her to learn and share as much as she can about campus security. She has a minor in education and has worked with children in several capacities, further deepening her passion for keeping students safe.
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