The University’s Interim Expressive Activity Policy continues to stir up strong emotions across campus, with a faculty and staff protest on Tuesday over several provisions still present after revisions to the policy were released Monday afternoon. But the formation of this policy and how a final version of the policy will look have yet to be made clear.
To better understand the process through which this policy was created and the next steps in the revision process, The Sun spoke with Vice President and General Counsel Donica Varner, who assesses the legal implications of the policy and how it pertains to Cornell’s values.
The initial version of the Interim Expressive Activity Policy was released on Jan. 24, sparking some condemnation by students and faculty over provisions that they feel impede on free expression. In her announcement of the policy, President Martha Pollack stated that “work on these policies began in Spring 2023, in the lead-up to our freedom of expression theme year, and last semester underscored the importance of such policies.”
Varner said that by January 2023, there was a draft interim policy that was brought to the desks of top administrators. But she said that the need for an expressive activity policy became apparent as early as December 2020, when the Board of Trustees adopted a new Student Code of Conduct in replacement of the Campus Code of Conduct.
That 2020 shift in conduct code, according to Varner, necessitated a separate expressive activity policy that hosted guidelines applying to all students, faculty and staff across Cornell’s multiple campuses.
This timeline seems to contradict a statement made by Dean of Faculty Prof. Eve De Rosa, psychology, in a Feb. 28 faculty forum. De Rosa said that the University introduced the policy in response to a Department of Education investigation into antisemitism at Cornell, but Varner said this characterization is not completely accurate.
“This work really predated the events of Oct. 7 and predated the Department of Education’s investigation,” Varner said. “The Department of Education’s investigation about whether or not the University was responding appropriately to concerns that antisemitism based on campus activity inspired us and accelerated the process so that we could start the spring semester with a set of guidelines.”
Varner made it clear that the process of “broad consultation” between administrators, faculty, staff and students is still ongoing and will be for the remainder of the semester. In the latest update to the policy, it was announced that a final policy would be presented to the University Assembly in the fall.
“I don’t think any one of us had a clear timeframe as to how quickly [a final policy] might happen because we were really interested in what the public discussion might look like,” Varner said. “What we’ve realized in the past month or so, two months now, is that there is an appetite and a strong desire to be more engaged. And so we’re creating more space for that engagement.”
The new revisions to the expressive activity policy clarified that registration for protests is not required — something that was vaguely implied in the initial version of the policy — and that small candles may be used in vigils. The revised policy also indicated that prior written permission is not required for posters, signs, flyers and banners in designated locations.
However, some are calling certain provisions that remain — such as the ban on sticks and poles and the requirement that posters contain the name of the sponsoring organization — as contrary to the spirit of free expression. Varner said these policies protect public safety and promote accountability, but there is still a conversation to be had about these provisions.
“Clearly, making the policy interim and not final was designed intentionally to invite broad public community discourse,” Varner said. “And we hope that will continue.”