Faculty and staff at Boston University say the school’s administration is requesting the removal of “public-facing” Pride flags on its three campuses and many faculty are resisting the directive, according to a report in BU’s independent student newspaper, The Daily Free Press.
Reports The Daily Free Press:
BU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors informed faculty in an email sent Monday that the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program and the University’s Children’s Center received directives over the weekend to remove their pride flags.
The chapter later received confirmation that some removal requests “had gone on longer” than this past week, said BU AAUP Co-President Mary Battenfeld.
WGS Program Director Susanne Sreedhar said she received an email request Aug. 19 to move a pride flag, positioned in the window of the department’s sitting room in 704 Commonwealth Ave., to an “interior wall.” The request — which came from within a CAS planning and operations department — claimed the flag violated signage rules listed in BU’s Events and Demonstrations Policy, Battenfeld said.
The signage policy, which BU Spokesperson Colin Riley characterized as “longstanding,” states that unattended placards, banners or other signs are not permitted unless they are affixed on a previously approved location, including “Free Expression Boards” on campus.
“Any signage used by Event participants may not be affixed to any University-owned property, including walls, windows, or furniture,” the policy states.
BU President Melissa Gilliam announced updates to the Events and Demonstrations Policy in a letter addressed to the university community on Sept. 17, 2024. The update altered a student-specific policy on signage to apply on a university-wide scale. The current policy is a result of those changes.
“We’re a welcoming and inclusive community,” Riley said. “It is not about the posting, it’s the location.”
Sreedhar said she had never heard of BU requesting faculty or staff to take down “something like a pride flag” prior to the recent request. She perceived it as an infringement of free speech, Sreedhar added.
“I was very surprised that this is something that happened in the current political climate by this institution that I thought prided itself on not just freedom of expression but inclusivity, especially of queer folks,” Sreedhar said.
After consulting with WGS faculty, Sreedhar opted not to relocate or remove the flag. A week later, she received a message asking for confirmation that the flag had been removed. She last corresponded with Associate Dean of Social Sciences Arianne Chernock Sept. 9 to dispute the request, who told Sreedhar she would follow up with her on next steps.
“It seems like a violation of free speech and free expression,” Sreedhar said. “Given BU’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, as spelled out in the Strategic Plan, which specifically mentioned the LGBTQ population, we feel like the pride flag is an important signifier.”
Read the complete Daily Free Press story here.
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