Last year, Drew University made a preliminary update to the policy on freedom of expression, with the preface that the copy would be revised later in the school year. It has been a whole year since the policy was revised, and there has not been any message, update or announcement from the school about the policy.
The Freedom of Expression Policy is an important document that states what students are allowed to do in relation to school property, such as hanging posters for clubs or personal reasons in hallways or classrooms.
This document also states the punishments that can occur when a student breaks those rules.
Revisions to this document were put into effect on Aug. 27, 2024, and feedback was set to be reviewed in December of that year.
It has been almost a year since then, and there have not been any updates sent out to the students regarding the policy.
Why has there not been any action or communication from the school since the 2024 school year?
The school sent out numerous emails during the 2024 school year regarding the situation, but after the publication of an Acorn article about this issue, there has not been a confirmed update.
Are we as students supposed to presume that the current document is the correct and most updated version? What if there have been further changes that the student body is not aware of?
During the course of this school year, students have asked the Acorn to do favors for their clubs, such as hanging up posters in dorm buildings or passing them around in the commons. What strikes us as confusing is that they think that those actions are allowed.
Under the updated freedom of expression policy, students need to have specific permission from the university to hang up or place posters that advertise their club.
This is a rather important portion of the policy, since most of the time, students either don’t know that they have to get permission to hang their posters up, or they don’t care.
I mention this specifically because most students are not aware that this is a rule, but there are a few who are.
Club leaders are the exclusive few who are given updates on the importance of the policy and other rules that would affect their club.
It makes sense as to why club leaders are given yearly reminders as to what rules they have to follow. We have so many clubs on campus that we need to be strict with how they are run, since student life is a direct representation of the university.
But why are club leaders the only students who get to know? Why do they get a document spelled out to them explaining the rules while other students have no idea these rules exist?
First years are given so many resources at the beginning of the year, but the document that explains their rights as a student on this campus is not one of them.
As a group who are highly aware of the situation and the rules that fall under the policy, we are also aware that these very important rules are not enforced in the way that they are written.
This policy was updated after a complaint about Drew was filed with the United States Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights about a student protest in the spring of 2024. It was crucial to Drew University that this policy be updated and changes be made. However, we are still waiting for this policy to have a follow-through.
This policy has been affecting students without their knowledge, and the school hasn’t been taking the action that it says it will.
If students are not allowed to hang posters in hallways without permission, why has there not been punishment for student organizations? If chalk writing needs to be approved and washed away after a certain amount of time, why has the school not said anything about it?
Why make changes to a policy if you are not going to enforce it?
It seems silly and obvious that to enforce these rules 24/7, the school would have to be constantly watching over the students, but this is what the policy says should be happening.
Why is there such a disconnection between the expectations that the school has set and the actions that they have not been taking?
It is crucial to point out that access to the policy on freedom of expression is difficult to obtain.
After logging on to Treehouse and directing to the student handbook, which holds all the information a student could ever need, you have to go digging if you want to find the freedom of expression policy.
Currently, the policy is under the mission page of “Daniel’s Dictionary”, along with many of the other school policies. But when you try to download the document or open the page, it redirects you to a “404 page not found” error message.
Having tried looking up the policy on the school website, all that can be found are the standard community guidelines and that broken link in “Daniel’s Dictionary”.
This policy is important, and it has certainly been said so by the school. In an email sent out by Terrance Somesla-McCornell, the Coordinator of Student Engagement and Club Life, on Sep. 9, 2024, all club leaders had to review the new policies and manuals for the upcoming school year.
In an email sent out by President Hilary Link on Jan. 22, 2024, a revision of “University Policies and Student Organization Charters” and an “Increase Transparent Communication to the Community” would be effectively coming to Drew within the next year.
In reality, the policy on freedom of expression does impact clubs much more than it does any individual student.
Clubs have to follow the rules in order to stay afloat. To maintain their budget and to make sure the community guidelines are followed, clubs on campus have a high expectation set upon them.
The club life manual is the one-stop shop for answers to any question a club leader might have. It is a useful tool given to students who want to start a club or expand on an idea they might have.
As important as this tool is, it falls under the same problem that the policy on freedom of expression does. Where is it, and why doesn’t everyone know about it?
After an unsuccessful attempt to find the manual on the official website, a quick search on “Daniel’s Dictionary” provides an insightful page on what club life is like on campus and a link to the manual. But once you search on The Path, the school’s official site for all club event postings and updates, there is no mention of the manual.
Unfortunately, not every student uses the student handbook, and for that to be the only link to an important resource is counterproductive to the effectiveness of the manual.
In another more recent email sent to Somesla-McCornell, the Acorn asked where the club life manual is in order to write this article about it. He answered, “of course! It is on the path under student engagement documents, but I will also attach a copy here.”
The Acorn is thankful for Somesla-McCornell for providing us with a copy of the manual, but our efforts are still unsatisfactory since once again we have been directed to go to a website, but cannot find the location of the manual.
Drew University has promoted a message of open communication and productivity towards our important school policy, but in the eyes of the students, they have been falling short.
Once again, we ask if these documents are so important to the functioning of our school, why have we not seen a broader message to the student body explaining them? Why are these documents so hard to find, and why is it difficult to get a straight answer regarding them?
The lead editorial is the collective opinion of the editorial board.