Overview
The Open Expression Policy 8.14 affirms Emory’s unwavering commitment to a community that inspires and supports courageous inquiry through open expression, dissent, and protest, while acknowledging the challenges of the creative tensions associated with courageous inquiry in an ever-changing community.
The policy promotes the rights of community members to assemble and demonstrate peaceably while providing limits to activities that disrupt university operations or impede the rights of others. Because some activities, including demonstration, rigorous debate and dissent, often create tension between groups and individuals, clarifying what is and is not permitted under the policy is an important part of its implementation.
“Civility and mutual respect are important values in our community; while they do not limit the rights protected by this Policy, we ask all members of the Community to consider these values carefully when exercising their fundamental right to open expression.” (p. 2, Section 8.14.1)
Key Points
- Free Expression: Emory University values and protects the rights of individuals and groups to express their opinions, beliefs, and ideas freely.
- Respectful Dialogue: While encouraging open expression, the university expects all community members to engage in discourse with civility and respect for differing viewpoints.
- Campus Spaces: Students and recognized student organizations have the right to reserve and utilize campus spaces for events, demonstrations, and other activities that align with their mission and values, as long as they adhere to university policies and procedures.
- Safety and Security: The university prioritizes the safety and security of all individuals on campus and may impose reasonable restrictions on expression to protect public safety and prevent disruption of university operations.
The Atlanta, Clairmont and Oxford campuses are all covered by the Open Expression Policy. The policy does not extend to off campus locations, unless a registered Emory event is occurring at an off-campus venue.
Demonstrations may not occur in the following locations*.
- Spaces where academic classes and meetings are currently taking place.
- Offices, museums, research laboratories and computer centers.
- Hospitals, clinics and other facilities or infrastructure that are essential to the university’s operations.
- Locations that present safety risks, including those related to free flow of traffic both vehicular and pedestrian.
- Individual and shared offices and research laboratories.
- Some expressive activity is permitted in residence halls, libraries and dining facilities. However, expression is more limited in those spaces because of the students’ fundamental need to eat, sleep and study without disruption.
*Please note additional facilities and administrative departments may have their own restrictions for demonstrations.
However, if the focus of the Expression, Protest, or Dissent includes one of these areas, there is an affirmative support to ensure protests occur in places like the outdoor spaces in front of the buildings or common gathering places close to these locations without impeding access or egress.
Community members, in the course of their actions, violate this Policy if they:
- Unreasonably infringe on the rights of other community members to engage in open expression, protest, and dissent.
- Cause substantial disruption to a meeting or event that impedes the rights of attendees of that meeting or event, including excessive noise, continually interrupting a speaker, or preventing an audience from seeing/engaging with a speaker during a meeting or event.
- Create undue hardship that substantially impedes a community member’s right to open expression, such as unreasonable space reservation or usage policies.
Community members, in the course of their actions, violate other policies of the University (such as the Undergraduate Student Code of Conduct, Codes of Conduct in the Graduate and Professional schools, and others that can be found at www.policies.emory.edu) and are no longer operating within the spirit of Open Expression at Emory if:
- They violate any federal, state, local or other applicable law (e.g., gaining unauthorized access to restricted areas, refusing to leave restricted areas if instructed, defacing of public and/or private property, etc.).
- They interfere unreasonably with the activities or rights of other persons. Factors that may be considered in determining whether conduct is reasonable include, but are not limited to, the time of day, size of audience, and noise level of a Meeting, Event, or Protest.
- They interfere unreasonably with the general operations of the University.
- They hold Meetings, Events, or Protests under circumstances where the health or safety of persons is endangered.
- They knowingly interfere with unimpeded movement in a University location. Examples may include preventing access to a building, or blocking any entrances or exits in a way that causes safety concerns.
- They cause injury to persons or property or threaten to cause such injury.
- They use or threaten violence or force, or encourage others to use or threaten violence or force.
- They cause harassment, as defined by state law.
- They violate reasonable noise levels, such as but not limited to DeKalb County noise ordinances. They violate reasonable noise levels, such as but not limited to DeKalb County noise ordinances.
All space reservation begin no earlier than 7 a.m. and conclude at 11:59 p.m. Students, faculty and staff can reserve spaces at studentcenter.emory.edu
Emory does not allow activities to occur in any building after that facility’s business hours. Building occupations and/or building takeovers are not permitted.
History of Open Expression
As outlined by the 2011 Taskforce on Dissent, Protest & Community Report, the University Senate charged a task force in October 2012 to review and rewrite the Open Expression Policy. A revised policy was presented to the University Senate in October 2013 for ratification and the policy revisions passed the Senate unanimously.