Dear Members of the Tufts Community,
We are writing to provide you with an update on the Gatherings, Protests, and Demonstrations policy. You will recall that this was one of the many polices related to student behavior that was updated prior to the start of the Fall 2018 term. Since the announcement of the policy updates, we solicited input from the campus community and many people have provided feedback about the Gatherings, Protests, and Demonstrations policy. We greatly appreciate all those who provided input at faculty meetings, community meetings, private meetings, or via the webform. One part of the policy that generated feedback was the registration of protests and demonstrations. The policy adopted in August treated protests and demonstrations like all other student events in order to be viewpoint-neutral and avoid the possibility that protests and demonstrations were being treated differently by the University based on their content. Thus, protests and gatherings were required to be registered via the event registration process run by the Office of Campus Life, as all student events are. Having heard feedback from the community, and after meeting with students directly, the Committee on Student Life (CSL) recently recommended that the registration of protests and demonstrations be made optional. The Dean of Student Affairs has reviewed and accepted the CSL’s recommendation, so the Gatherings, Protests, and Demonstrations policy will be updated, effective December 1, 2018. You can read the updated policy here. We are confident that the updated policy will help further ensure that Tufts maintains a campus culture where students can continue to participate in various forms of activism and self-expression. At the same time, we encourage students to voluntarily register protests and demonstrations so that the University can provide support for these events, including any necessary safety measures. We recognize that policies outlining community standards are most effective when all members of the campus community are actively engaged in developing those policies, and we appreciate that so many students and faculty helped foster shared expectations of mutual respect, transparency, and fairness in this process. We hope that you will continue share your feedback with us. Additional comments on the Gatherings, Protests, and Demonstrations policy or any other policy in the Student Code of Conduct may be submitted at any time to DeanofStudentAffairs@ase.tufts.edu. We wish you the best during the final few weeks of the semester and hope you are looking forward to a refreshing Winter Break.
Sincerely,
Mary Pat McMahon
Dean of Student Affairs
Kevin Kraft
Director of Community Standards
Andrew Ramsburg
Faculty Co-Chair, Committee on Student Life
Phil Starks
Faculty Co-Chair, Committee on Student Life
Charlie Zhen
Student Co-Chair, Committee on Student Life
