UMass Chancellor Reyes affirms support for freedom of speech, peaceful demonstration

CHANCELLOR JAVIER REYES

CHANCELLOR JAVIER REYES

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Staff Writer

Published: 08-27-2024 3:15 PM

Modified: 09-02-2024 9:46 AM


AMHERST — After a spring semester that came to a close with the arrests of 134 students, faculty and community members at a pro-Palestinian encampment, and nearly 500 faculty members and librarians subsequently taking a no-confidence in Chancellor Javier Reyes, the campus leader is outlining steps being taken to promote freedom of speech and peaceful demonstration on the campus.

In a letter sent to the UMass community on Friday, Reyes writes that he wants to “reaffirm our commitment to freedom of speech and peaceful demonstration” in the new academic year.

“I also want to remind our community that we have guidelines related to demonstrations that provide direction to our campus community and visitors regarding time, place and manner for activism on our campus,” Reyes writes. “These policies, applied in a viewpoint-neutral manner, protect the right to engage in peaceful demonstrations and empower, enable and champion freedom of speech while ensuring that demonstrations neither infringe upon the rights of others nor obstruct the operations of the campus.”

The communication from Reyes comes just before students arrive on campus throughout this week, and as the Campus Demonstration Policy Task Force prepares to issue its findings. Reyes established the task force in June to review campus demonstration policies and guidelines and make recommendations for potential improvements. The task force includes students, faculty and administrators.

In addition, an independent review commissioned by the university of what led up to the arrests and break-up of the encampment in May is being done by Ralph C. Martin II, an attorney with Prince Lobel. Martin’s findings will be provided to the university’s Office of General Counsel this fall.

The chancellor’s letter on Friday acknowledges the challenges ahead for UMass.

“Like many of our university peers, we ended the spring semester with significant unresolved issues and fierce disagreements over how our campus community can maintain its commitment to activism without impeding our core mission of education, research and service,” Reyes writes.

“While determining the appropriate response to these complex issues is an individual decision shaped by our deeply held beliefs, our humanity and our morals, those individual decisions can also impact others in our university community. UMass is exactly where these difficult conversations should be happening,” Reyes writes.

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“Our university is a place where ideas are meant to be challenged and viewpoints championed. A commitment to the free and open exchange of ideas is at the core of who we are as a university and has informed our campus’ long history of activism.”

Several additional steps are also taking place, including small group and individual meetings between Reyes and faculty and community members, focused on dealing with and debating various issues, and a pledge by Reyes to meet with students in the coming semester and speak with staff at departmental and unit meetings across campus in the coming weeks.

Reyes also points to workshops, programs and initiatives being developed by faculty, staff and students to support dialogue across differences, including the Intergroup Dialogue Initiative led by faculty and staff in the College of Education and Student Affairs and Campus Life; the Community, Democracy and Dialogue Initiative that offers grant funding to students, faculty, and staff to develop programs, activities, and events that promote diverse discourse and open dialogue; and Dialogue in Troubled Times, led by faculty in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences in collaboration with partners across campus. This campuswide initiative aims to explore and address the challenges facing democracy in these polarized times.

There is also the Conversation Commons, which is launching this fall through Campus Life and Wellbeing; and the Advocacy, Inclusion, and Support collaboratives of Student Affairs and Campus Life, which will provide students with opportunities to connect in the dining commons for community and conversation.

Additionally, the Center for Multicultural Advancement and Student Success, which in partnership with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life, will be launching a book club in each of its cultural centers to read and discuss the book, “I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times.”

Finally, the third annual Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Conference Sept. 18 and 19 will include a range of workshops, discussions and networking opportunities focused on building community and cultivating belonging. This year’s theme is “Growing Our Roots, Strengthening UMass From the Ground Up.”

“I recognize that we have a lot of work ahead us as we strive to strengthen community,” Reyes writes. “These earnest efforts to listen to each other and engage in respectful dialogue, even and especially across differences, is a source of great optimism for me as your chancellor.”

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.