The University of Oregon is creating a proposal that will limit the time, place and manner of protesting on campus, according to a statement made Friday by UO President Michael Schill.
The policy is being drafted by the General Counsel, headed by UO Vice President Kevin Reed, and is currently gathering feedback from the community. The counsel will present the proposal to the Policy Advisory Committee in the coming weeks, according to Schill.
If no consensus is made in four months, Schill will enact a temporary emergency policy until he, the General Counsel and the Policy Advisory Committee reach an agreement, according to the announcement.
The new policy is in response to an April protest in front of Johnson Hall, UO’s administrative building. The protest aimed to sway the university from divesting stock in fossil fuels. Administration ordered the removal of a large banner which read, “Off Fossil Fuels: We call on President [Michael] Schill to urge the UO foundation to divest from fossil fuels,” according to an Emerald article from April.
In the announcement, Schill wrote that the protest was peaceful, but protesters “disrupted business at Johnson Hall.”
UO is not the first to enact such a policy, Oregon State University’s Time, Place and Manner policy restricts protests that “unreasonably disrupt regular or authorized activities in classrooms, offices, laboratories and other University facilities or grounds.” Protesters may also be required to stay 15 feet away from any exit, entrance, staircase, parking lot or roadway, according to the document.