After spring student protests, UCF considers camping ban
The University of Central Florida may ban camping on campus and limit the duration of protests in the wake of pro-Palestinian demonstrations that roiled colleges and took over university lawns across the country this spring.
UCF’s Board of Trustees is to take up new regulations dealing with “use of university facilities; events and protests” on Tuesday, according to the agenda for the meeting.
Florida State University’s trustees approved a similar change to their policies Thursday, banning tents, the blocking of entrances to buildings and the wearing of hoods that cover protesters’ faces, according to documents on the FSU website.
UCF’s proposal would prohibit camping — an activity not mentioned in current rules — and limit the length of protests and other “expressive activities” to five days in a row and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. most days. The university defines “expressive activities” as ones that are “exercises of free speech” under the First Amendment. They include taking part in marches, protests, parades and picket lines, the proposed regulation says.
Robert Cassanello, a UCF history professor and president of United Faculty of Florida at UCF, thinks the proposals go too far, given the restrained nature of UCF’s pro-Palestinian protests to date.
“Responding to what you think might come might be a little over-reactive,” he said. “Certainly, there’s nothing going on on the ground at UCF that would merit these kinds of precautions.”
Spokespeople for UCF didn’t respond to email and phone call requests for comment on Friday.
The proposed changes come in wake of nationwide campus protests in April and May calling for universities to divest from ties to Israel, sparked by the ongoing war in Gaza, which came in response to Hamas’ October attack on Israeli residents.
At some Florida protests, including some at the University of South Florida in Tampa, students tried to erect tents on campus, only for police and university officials to take them down.
The UCF proposal defines camping as laying down blankets, cooking utensils or other materials for the purpose of living or sleeping — regardless of whether campers actually stay overnight.
UCF students staged several protests on the east Orlando campus this spring about the war. On April 26, more than 200 protesters gathered near UCF’s main library. On May 7, a group set up blankets and folding chairs near Memory Mall in the center of campus as part of another protest.
The UCF protesters did not engage in confrontations with police, and left campus before midnight as police instructed. No one was arrested.
But at the University of Florida, where students staged a five-day demonstration, nine people were arrested.
“UF did not change our policies on protest,” UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldan said of rules there. “We enforced existing rules and regulations. University police worked to patiently explain rules to protesters in an effort to bring them into compliance.”
At USF, more than 10 were arrested, one of whom had a gun, and police used tear gas to break up a group of protesters who had put up a tent.
Protesters at FSU tried to build a handful of tents, only for police to take them down minutes later. At that time, FSU’s regulation already prohibited camping.
FSU’s new regulations also say that “no individual or group may claim exclusive use of any area without prior approval” from the university.
