AMHERST — Giving the Demonstration Response and Safety Team at the University of Massachusetts an expanded role in promoting safety, education and deescalation at protests, clarifying the campus land-use policy by defining structures according to state law, and delineating the roles of university administrators and police when handling policy violations and illegal acts at demonstrations are among key recommendations from the Campus Demonstration Policy Task Force.

Convened in June by Chancellor Javier Reyes after what he calls the “challenging events” of the spring — including the crackdown on the pro-Palestinian encampment that led to the arrest of 134 students, faculty and community members — the task force’s 11-page report provides advice for how to best protect the First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom to associate and remain in compliance with the UMass Amherst Picketing Code.

“Throughout its work, the CDPT set out to ensure that the university’s policies reflect a commitment to the free and open exchange of ideas while equally protecting the rights of all to live, work, teach and learn in a community of inquiry,” reads an excerpt from the panel’s executive summary.

Meeting six times as a 17-member group of faculty, students and staff, with various subcommittees meeting 10 times and additional discussions and document review was also completed via a shared Teams channel, the task force co-hosted national workshops with nearly 100 institutions of higher education to discuss the most challenging issues related to campus activism.

The report was delivered to Reyes on Friday and its contents were announced in a letter the chancellor sent to the community Wednesday afternoon. He used the letter to reflect on the Labor Day weekend’s new student convocation at the Mullins Center, where Professor Ray La Raja gave an address asking the community to remain curious, be open-minded, and express humility, rather than absolutism, including when issuing proclamations.

Reyes wrote that it is the university’s role to not to be a decider, but a convener of all perspectives, pointing to hosting speakers with various opinions, allowing faculty members the right to teach freely on their subjects, and holding space for dissent, for protest and for counterprotest.

“I am reminded that our policies are meant to protect the space of open discourse, not to allow endorsement of a single viewpoint through their selective application,” Reyes writes. “For these reasons, going forward, I will refrain from issuing statements on national, international or geopolitical events, unless they have a direct bearing on the functions of our campus and its mission.”

Divergent viewpoints

Reyes said he was able to reflect on his commitment to make the campus more open to divergent viewpoints.

In May, State Police came to campus to break up the encampment, with those arrested on various charges held at the Mullins Center overnight. The action cited a campus policy to “limit, disallow or disband an event which incites immediate, violent action or represents a clear and present danger to the campus community or if for any reason of time, place, or manner of behavior, the demonstration materially disrupts classwork or other university business, involves a substantial disorder, or invades of the rights of others.”

Reyes’ letter summarizes other recommendations, including creating an advisory council to the Demonstration Response and Safety Team that includes representatives from outside the university administration; actively seeking out post-action reports from other universities for review; developing so-called “off-ramps” oriented toward deescalating the potential for conflict, including building up a mediation infrastructure; specifying procedures for the identification of demonstrators that are UMass community members; and clarifying the use of law enforcement in relation to illegal acts, including violent acts, threats of public safety, substantial disorder, trespass and the invasion of the rights of others, as opposed to policy violations.

‘Free Expression FAQ’

The task force also created a “Free Expression FAQ” that could be shared with the university community, updated handouts that the Demonstration Response and Safety Team can share with demonstrators, and put together a central website that shares all demonstration-related policies and guidance.

“Within the report are a series of recommendations guided by complicated questions such as how do we ensure that, in exercising rights protected by the First Amendment, we do not infringe on the rights of others? How do we address civil disobedience in our governance? And how do we respond in a way that is aligned with our values when policies or laws are violated?” Reyes writes.

“Over the next several weeks, these recommendations, which I fully endorse, will move through the governing bodies of the university.”

But much of Reyes’ letter to the community focuses on his own advocacy.

“I am often asked, in my role as chancellor, to weigh in on world events and make statements on behalf of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. These statements can give members of our community the chance to see their own values and beliefs reflected in official proclamations. I question, though, whether such statements can do more harm than the good they intend,” he writes.

Still, Reyes pledges to do right by the campus.

“This does not mean that an institution must remain neutral on matters core to its educational mission or when the ability of its own students to participate in their education is challenged. In such matters, universities should respond, as UMass has in the past,” Reyes noted. He cites in his letter when former UMass Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, in 2017, vowed to protect the rights of immigrant and international students following an executive order issued by President Donald Trump banning the admission of travelers, immigrants, and refugees from seven Muslim-majority nations.

“And when our students face crises in their home cities, countries, or cultures,” Reyes writes, “we will continue to provide direct support and resources.”

“Caring for our community is done through actions, not statements that some may see as performative or hollow.”

The task force report is at umass.edu/sites/default/files/2024-09/CDPT_Report.pdf/.

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