Approximately 35 demonstrators gathered in front of Flint Loop and the Center for the Arts Friday afternoon, chalking sidewalks and speaking into a megaphone in defiance of new UB policies outlining rules and restrictions on assemblies and demonstrations. Those policies are currently under a 30-day review period that ends next Saturday, Sept. 28.
The new policies include prohibitions on amplifying equipment and chalking, as well as new restrictions on posters. They also codify a ban on camping and end an overnight protest ban that was used to justify the university’s forceful arrests of 15 pro-Palestine demonstrators during a May 1 protest calling for divestment from Israel.
A protester chalks on a concrete planter in front of the Center for the Arts, intentionally violating a new UB policy prohibiting chalking on campus.
In a previous statement to The Spectrum, university spokesperson John Della Contrada said the policies were “partly” updated in response to criticism over the university’s actions on May 1.
After UB published the new policies, SUNY UB Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (SUNY UB BDS), which organized Friday’s protest, released a statement calling the policies a “direct contradiction to fostering free experience on our campus” and said that the amendments will “amplify this disparity.”
Several protesters at Friday’s demonstration told The Spectrum the new policies are overly restrictive.
SUNY UB BDS organizer Maureen Milligan said that the protest demonstrated resistance.
“I want to ask, what are they afraid of? What are they afraid of — a handful of peaceful protesters chalking and putting up flyers, what are they afraid of?” Milligan, a neurology researcher, said.
Another protester, Rosalise Kowalewski, said the policies are unfair and that the university is “using any excuse for us to fall in line.”
“As a university and overall, we have the right to speak our mind,” Kowalewski, a sophomore business and economics major, said. “We’re not harming anyone.”
In a statement emailed to The Spectrum, UB said it is “emphasizing education efforts with the campus community and visitors about the revised time, place and manner policies on such issues as amplification and chalking.”
“As a State University of New York institution, UB must allow individuals or groups, including those who are unaffiliated with the university, to demonstrate or protest in designated outdoor spaces on campus, so long as the demonstrations do not disrupt regular operations,” the statement reads.
The protesters’ chalked messages were hosed away by 5:10 p.m. Friday.
Several demonstrators declined to speak to The Spectrum, saying they feared retaliation and online harassment.
The university is soliciting comments on the new assembly policies through next Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.
Sarah Owusu, Rodrigo Feijão and Camden Bartlo contributed to this reporting.
Xiola Bagwell is the managing editor and can be reached at xiola.bagwell@ubspectrum.com
Mylien Lai is the senior news editor and can be reached at mylien.lai@ubspectrum.com
The news desk can be reached at news@ubspectrum.com
Xiola Bagwell is the managing editor of The Spectrum. She enjoys reading and writing fantasy/romance novels, watching lighthearted movies and spending time with her friends and family. Xiola is a linguistics major, minoring in Spanish.
Mylien Lai is the senior news editor at The Spectrum. Outside of getting lost in Buffalo, she enjoys practicing the piano and being a bean plant mom. She can be found at @my_my_my_myliennnn on Instagram.
