Whether they’re pitching tents on a soft grassy Quad, gathering on the steps of Hendricks Chapel or waving long petitions at passers-by, student activists are not apt to bury their heads in the sand.

And in the process of asserting their student voices, the groups are sending an important message to the Syracuse University community.

‘If you’re not a part of the solution, you’re a part of the problem,’ said Waverly de Bruijn, a senior sociology major and former co-chair of the Syracuse Environmental Action Coaltion. Rather than apathetic students, however, one of the biggest problems groups like SEAC face involves reserving – on a campus built for 10,000 plus students – a place to protest.

For the last several years, the authority of campus protests has been based on a reservation system rather than independent actions based on cooperative goals. As part of the system, students are required to fill an application entitled the ‘outdoor space request form’ and meet with a representative from Student Centers and Programming Services. These steps dictate access to activity sites, and, some students argue, the right to free speech.

According to Bridget Talbot, director of the Division of Student Affairs, the space form is reserved for groups that have been recognized as organizations by the Office of Greek Life and Experiential Learning. It must also be submitted at least seven business days prior to the event for consideration. After the form is completed, Talbot reviews the group’s strategy and informational materials such as pamphlets, posters and chalk statements before they are used.

This mandate has left students to decide whether a ‘permission to protest’ threatens to undermine the demonstration process altogether.

‘It’s something we struggle with here because it’s fairly ridiculous we can’t be visible on our own Quad on campus,’ de Bruijn said. ‘Because of the formation of OGLEL, we have to choose between our freedom of speech and being sent to Judicial Affairs.’

Groups that fail to complete the request form are punishable under the jurisdiction of Judicial Affairs, yet Talbot insists that it is not a form of censorship. Her sessions do not censor student content or the ability to rally, she said, but ensures that groups are not going to violate state laws or the student code of conduct.

Over the last decade, members of SEAC, the New York Public Interest Research Group, the Student Peace Action Network and Green Campus Initiative have served as catalysts for large changes on and off the SU campus. After Sept. 11, SEAC was the first group on campus to organize a panel discussion over what the university should do in response to the event. Last week, the affirmative actions of SEAC, Green Campus and NYPIRG convinced the university to purchase 20 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources.

In many cases, group members’ deep commitment to societal change carries over into distaste for protest permission.

‘(The form) is flat out ridiculous,’ said Jake Eichten, a junior sociology major and member of SEAC. ‘It is an oppression of free speech and freedom of assembly – you can’t use the space unless the administration says it’s OK.’

An active member of SEAC since its anti-war protests against the National Security Studies program, Eichten feels that the process is unnecessary for demonstrations that are typically harmless. He also indicated the existence of a double standard between the university’s treatment of major businesses and students.

‘When corporations come to the Quad, they are provided facilities – no questions asked,’ he said. ‘We’re the ones coming here and why the university exists, yet we do not receive such treatment.’

Talbot said that the SU reservation system is similar to the one used by other universities across the country. The process is seen not only as an effective way to reduce violations such as hate crimes, but also to provide counseling for the students.

‘What I provide is a chance to talk through an event, how (student groups) can do better than what they’re doing and to give them helpful suggestions,’ she said.

Although the permission form requests that students submit a proposal seven days before an event, in many cases political news will incite protest within a matter of days. de Bruijn says that SEAC has never been denied the right to demonstrate in such cases, but students have been threatened by university officials in the past. During the protest against a proposed sewage plant in the Midland neighborhood, she said, students handing out informational sheets were approached by Public Safety officials and given an ultimatum: to submit their student IDs or report to Judicial Affairs.

de Bruijn considers the deadline a nuisance for students trying to organize large-scale events like the campout for clean energy.

‘They say they do it for our own time, to make us adequately prepared for an event, but it’s stupid – it just makes us jump through more hoops,’ de Bruijn said. ‘Sometimes you don’t have seven days and need to take immediate action.’

While the Hill is known for its cumbersome application process, students who protest next door – at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry – often find that protests are much easier to facilitate because of the school’s small size. Junior environmental and forestry biology ESF major Debbie Visco, who recently participated in the clean energy campout, said that she likes this situation because there are fewer obstacles and more student trust at ESF.

From an outsider’s perspective, Visco took more of a devil’s advocate approach to deciding whether or not the application process is beneficial to SU students.

‘It would be nice if it were not necessary,’ Visco said, ‘but I can understand the need on such bigger campuses where they don’t want to infringe on other’s rights or copyrights.’ At the same time, Visco noted that university officials may be exploiting the application for control over student groups.

While some students are satisfied with the current reservation system, others search for more viable, effective alternatives.

Freshman environmental science major and ESF student Tina Notas suggested that the best amendment to the process would be for groups to pass protest ideas through the Student Association. This would be fairer, she said, because demonstrators are students and students have the responsibility to decide when others should take a stand.

‘The campus Quad is student based, and the fact that students have to have permission to make a statement bothers a lot of people,’ Notas said. ‘Syracuse is more community than private property.’

Making the process better, some say, starts with eliminating the need for protest actions altogether.

‘Sometimes we need to be more open to what is going on in the world,’ Notas said. ‘If the student body was educated more on the impact it has on the community, then protesting wouldn’t be necessary in the first place.’

Published on April 25, 2005 at 12:00 pm