In October 2004, a speech by filmmaker Michael Moore at the Lane Events Center was interrupted by protesters who supported presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Police escorted the protesters from the building. Dr. Robert Gordon was there, keeping track of what he saw.
Gordon, a University professor, attended the speech as a volunteer with the Neutral Observer Program and later filed a report on the actions of the protesters and police.
Volunteers such as Gordon attend any campus event that has the potential for controversy. If events become disruptive, the neutral observers file written reports using language that is as neutral as possible.
The Neutral Observer Program, which is run through Conflict Resolution Services, began at the University in 1990 but was not used much until 1999, Director of Conflict Services Annie Bentz said.
In the 1960s, similar programs were started at University of California at Berkeley and the University of Colorado at Boulder, Bentz said. The University program, which trains volunteers to attend events in which they have no personal stake and report back objectively on what happens, is modeled after these programs, Bentz said.
Emelia Udd, the sexual violence prevention and education coordinator for the Women’s Center, planned this year’s “Take Back the Night” event, which neutral observers attend each year.
Udd said she has noticed the neutral observers at controversial events such as when the anti-abortion group known as the “Genocide Awareness Project” came to campus. She said neutral observers are valuable because they are “noncommittal” and provide accurate descriptions of events that people have strong opinions about.
Gordon became a neutral observer four years ago. He said he got his bachelor’s degree at the University of Colorado and remembered reading an article about the program there.
“When I came here I saw a call for neutral observers and I thought ‘that seemed like a good thing to do,’” he said.
Gordon said the administration or faculty advisors of student organizations occasionally ask for the program volunteers to be present, but Bentz also keeps a close watch on events that have the potential for disruption and will “put out a call for neutral observers.”
Volunteers are trained to “observe from a behavioral level,” and to write reports using language that does not include judgments or opinions.
Bentz said there are two levels of benefits to having neutral observers at events.
“If there is any form of escalation that happens, there’s somebody there that can say ‘I was there to observe what’s going on and here’s what I saw,’” she said.
The second benefit is the mere presence of the volunteers, who are easily identifiable by their yellow arm bands, which has a calming effect on the crowd, Bentz said.
“We’ve had several situations where participants – it looks like they’re engaged in behavior that has the potential to escalate – and if a neutral observer is nearby, they tend to calm down,” Bentz said.
Gordon said he personally witnessed this benefit of the program. When vice presidential candidate John Edwards came to campus in 2004, some Republican demonstrators were disrupting the people attempting to hand out informational literature. A woman working at the table noticed Gordon and after she came to speak with him, the protesters toned things down.
He said he thinks people are more likely to behave in a less disruptive way because they think the neutral observers are working in an official capacity.
“In the case of the Edwards incident, I think the disrupters had no idea what a neutral observer is, so they think ‘Oh, it’s some official person who can get me in trouble,’” Gordon said.
Udd said as a leader in the community, she feels the presence of the neutral observers means she “will not be judged for being biased.”
“It’s kind of a security issue, at least for me,” she said, adding it also holds her accountable if she has a skewed opinion of things.
Bentz said neutral observers do not engage with the crowd and are not peace-keepers, but said she thinks people change their behavior if they know someone with no ulterior motive is watching.
“I think when people know that somebody’s there with a sole purpose to keep their eye on the tone of an event, people sometimes rethink their behavior as a result because they know it might be documented,” Bentz said.
When an event does lead to arrests or other escalation, neutral observers are required to report what they see, keeping track of “critical incidents,” which Bentz said include anything that might violate the law or the student conduct code, or that puts people or property in danger.
The reports are available for anyone with a “legitimate need” to see them, such as members of law enforcement or people on the student Judicial Affairs Committee.
Neutral observers describe not just the behavior of participants but that of law enforcement as well.
Although the reports are kept in the Conflict Resolution Services office, they are rarely requested. Bentz said she has been coordinating the program since 1999 and has only had one or two requests for reports.
Gordon said he has only filed a few reports, one stemmed from the incident at the Michael Moore speech and another from a demonstration at the ROTC offices that resulted in several arrests.
“In general, everything goes smoothly and there are no problems,” he said.
Gordon said his favorite thing about volunteering for the program is that it inspires him to attend events he would not otherwise “muster the energy” to attend, but he would not describe it as an “enjoyable” experience.
“I just felt like it seemed like a reasonable thing for the campus to be doing, so I saw it as more of a public service than an enjoyable thing to do,” he said.
Gordon said the program is good for the campus because it provides “a dispassionate and unbiased account of whatever events might transpire.”
He said in the event a demonstration leads to a lawsuit or other action against the University, it is good to have a safety mechanism in place.
“I think it’s a valuable backup to other systems that are in place,” he said.
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