New "Major Events" Policy: Police Censorship at UC Berkeley

On August 14, the University of California, Berkeley issued an interim campus policy, “Major Events Hosted by Non-Departmental Users,” which will become permanent campus policy at the start of the new year. This is a policy of police censorship, curtailing free speech at the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement.

The policy requires student organizations to submit any meeting or protest on the Berkeley campus to an eight-week police review process. Any event which the police deem “major,” including for unspecified security concerns, will be required to pay for the police presence that UCPD mandates. Student groups will have no right to appeal police decisions or review the reasoning behind them. Under the terms of this policy, free speech will be for those the police deem safe, or those wealthy enough to afford it.

The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) is mounting a campaign against this de facto police censorship. The “Major Events” policy is antithetical to healthy academic life on campus, which requires the freest possible exchange of ideas and open political inquiry.