On Friday, April 26 Vice President of Student Affairs Andrea Dine, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Carol Fierke and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Stewart Uretsky  released an email to the Brandeis community regarding guidelines for demonstrations. The email begins by welcoming students back to campus and recognizing seniors for completing their degrees. 

The email touches on the recent protests and encampments that have occurred or are still ongoing at colleges and universities across the country following the events of Oct. 7. The email described the demonstrations having been “peaceful” and “disruptive.”

The primary causes of the protests and encampments across colleges and universities is to show support for the Palestinian people and to urge schools to divest from companies that have connections to Israel. In the case of Harvard University's Harvard out of Palestine group, students created what has been described as the “liberated zone” in Harvard Yard to show their support for Palestinian liberation and demand that “the University … contend with the fact that its students will not tolerate its support for genocide, violence, and apartheid” by continuing to invest in Israel. 

As a result of the protests and encampments occurring across the United States, the Brandeis administration chose to remind students of University demonstration policies and urge the Brandeis community for their “support in providing a safe community for all.”

The email links both Brandeis’ Principles of Free Speech and Free Expression as well as guidelines regarding protests and expression laid out in the Department of Students Rights and Community Standards’ Rights and Responsibilities, highlighting section seven. This section states:

“A member of the University community may protest, rally, or demonstrate, provided such protests or demonstrations do not disrupt University operations or obstruct physical movement to, from, or within any place on the campus, including University property located off the main campus. Though the campus must be open to the free exchange of ideas, the University may limit the time, place, and manner of demonstrations.”

The email also highlights a specific passage from the Principles of Free Speech and Free Expression: 

“The freedom to debate and discuss ideas does not mean that individuals may say whatever they wish, wherever they wish, or however they wish. In narrowly-defined circumstances, the university may restrict expression, as for example … that [which] constitutes a genuine threat or harassment … or that is otherwise directly incompatible with the functioning of the University.”

The email then proceeds to outline the University’s current plan to allow students to “express their opinions without impeding the University’s operations or posing safety risks” as well as consequences for violating these policies. 

Protesting will be allowed in designated areas and demonstrators are encouraged to work with the Dean of Students office prior to protests to ensure safety. However, “occupying or blocking access to buildings, walking paths or roadways, and establishing outdoor encampments and sleeping in any campus outdoor spaces are prohibited” and will result in consequences. Protests are only to be composed of Brandeis students, with the understanding that non-Brandeis students protesting on campus will be removed from campus, the email stated. 

Additionally, the email advises the Brandeis community that “threats and harassment are prohibited” in terms of protest communications. The email alludes to the protest communications that violate this prohibition by the content contained in the investigation report of the Nov. 10 protest that resulted in several students being arrested. 

The investigation report of the Nov. 10 protest was released to the Brandeis community in an email from Uretsky and Fierke on April 9. It describes “prohibited threats and harassment” that occurred on Nov. 10 as “making threatening statements or calling for violence” including phrases such as “from the river to the sea,” referring “to Israelis as murderers” and suggesting that Israelis should be killed. According to the report these phrases and references violate Brandeis’ protest policy, located in section seven of the Students Rights and Community Standards’ Rights and Responsibilities handbook. In line with the University’s principles of free speech and free expression, Brandeis retains the right to “restrict expression” that they find to violate the University’s protest policy, including but not limited to the language used during the Nov. 10 protest.

The email warns the Brandeis community that demonstrations that interfere with university operations or violate policies are not permitted and following “attempts at engagement and de-escalation” those who are responsible “will face conduct proceedings, disciplinary measures, or other consequences.” Students were encouraged to look at Section 21 of the University’s Rights and Responsibilities which details University actions and sanctions. 

The email concludes by acknowledging that the events of Oct. 7 and the “ensuing war” have affected many Brandeis community members in multiple ways and expressing “faith” in the community to “empathize and be respectful of one another.”