Athol Daily News – UMass Chancellor Reyes reiterates support for free speech and peaceful demonstrations

AMHERST – After a spring semester that ended with the arrest of 134 students, faculty and community members at a pro-Palestinian camp and in which nearly 500 faculty and librarians voted a vote of confidence in Chancellor Javier Reyes, the campus superintendent is now outlining steps being taken to encourage free speech and peaceful demonstrations on campus.

In a letter to the UMass community on Friday, Reyes wrote that he wanted to “reaffirm our commitment to free speech and peaceful demonstrations” in the new academic year.

“I also want to remind our community that we have demonstration guidelines that provide guidance to our campus community and visitors regarding the time, place and type of activism on our campus,” Reyes writes. “These guidelines, which are applied in a viewpoint-neutral manner, protect the right to peaceful demonstration and strengthen, enable and defend freedom of expression while ensuring that demonstrations do not violate the rights of others or interfere with campus operations.”

Reyes' announcement comes just before students arrive on campus this week and as the Campus Demonstration Policy Task Force prepares to announce its findings. Reyes created the task force in June to review policies and guidelines for demonstrations on campus and make recommendations for possible improvements. The task force is comprised of students, faculty and administrators.

In addition, Ralph C. Martin II, an attorney for Prince Lobel, is conducting an independent investigation on behalf of the university into the circumstances surrounding the arrests and the clearing of the camp in May. Martin's findings will be presented to the university's general counsel in the fall.

In his letter Friday, the chancellor acknowledges the challenges ahead for UMass.

“Like many of our colleagues across the University, we ended the spring semester with significant unresolved issues and fierce disagreements about how our campus community can maintain its commitment to activism without compromising our core mission of education, research, and service,” Reyes writes.

“While deciding the appropriate response to these complex issues is an individual decision shaped by our deeply held beliefs, humanity, and morals, these individual decisions can also impact others in our university community. UMass is exactly the place where these difficult conversations should be taking place,” Reyes writes.

“Our university is a place where ideas are challenged and viewpoints are advocated. A commitment to the free and open exchange of ideas is at the core of who we are as a university and has shaped the long history of activism on our campus.”

In addition, numerous other steps are being taken, including small group and individual meetings between Reyes and faculty and community members to address and discuss various issues. In addition, Reyes has pledged to meet with students during the upcoming semester and speak with staff at department and division meetings across campus in the coming weeks.

Reyes also points to workshops, programs and initiatives developed by faculty, staff and students to support dialogue across differences, including the Intergroup Dialogue Initiative, led by faculty and staff in the College of Education and Student Affairs and Campus Life; the Community, Democracy and Dialogue Initiative, which provides grants to students, faculty and staff to develop programs, activities and events to promote diverse discourse and open dialogue; and Dialogue in Troubled Times, led by faculty in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences in collaboration with partners across campus. This campus-wide initiative aims to examine and address the challenges facing democracy in these polarized times.

In addition, there are the “Conversation Commons,” which will be introduced this fall through “Campus Life and Wellbeing,” as well as the Advocacy, Inclusion and Support collaborations of Student Affairs and Campus Life, which offer students the opportunity to network in the cafeteria for exchange and conversation.

In addition, the Center for Multicultural Advancement and Student Success, in collaboration with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life, will host a book club at each of its cultural centers to read and discuss the book “I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times.”

Finally, the third annual Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Conference on September 18 and 19 will feature a series of workshops, discussions and networking opportunities focused on building community and fostering belonging. This year's theme is “Growing Our Roots, Strengthening UMass from the Ground Up.”

“I am aware that we still have much work to do as we strive to strengthen the community,” Reyes writes. “These serious efforts to listen to one another and engage in respectful dialogue, including and especially across differences, are a source of great optimism for me as your Chancellor.”

Scott Merzbach can be reached at [email protected].