A downloadable PDF of the handbook is currently being updated.

Student Expressive Speech and Demonstration Policy

Rhodes College upholds the principles of academic freedom and free expression as cornerstones of our educational mission, essential for the pursuit of truth and the unfettered exploration of knowledge. As an inclusive and truth-seeking community, we affirm all members' intellectual freedom and right to free expression, even when the ideas conveyed are controversial, provocative, or perceived as offensive. Simultaneously, we defend the right of our community members to critique, protest, and challenge these ideas. These rights should be exercised responsibly, considering the impact on community members with differing views. 

However, the right to free expression carries with it the responsibility to respect the rights, safety, and dignity of others. Equally important is our commitment to non-discrimination and promoting respectful discourse, ensuring all community members can engage in discussion without fear of harassment or exclusion. Through this balance of freedom, we aim to create an inclusive and intellectually vibrant campus through this balance of freedom and responsibility. 

Rhodes College is dedicated to cultivating a dynamic learning environment that promotes open dialogue, robust debate, and the free exchange of ideas among students, faculty, staff, and invited speakers. The following policies and procedures for expressive speech activities on campus, including demonstrations, are rooted in this commitment. However, with the right to free expression comes the responsibility to respect the rights and safety of others.

This policy outlines the guidelines for student expressive speech activities on campus, including designated demonstration spaces, to protect the right to express and learn.

Non-Discrimination and Respect for Others

Expressive speech activities must adhere to Rhodes' Non-discrimination Policy and respect for others. Speech that incites violence credibly threatens or harasses individuals, or creates a hostile environment is not protected under this policy. Disagreement and debate should be conducted civilly and respectfully.

Guidelines for Expressive Activities

  • Time, Place, and Manner Restrictions: While Rhodes seeks to promote open discourse, the College also recognizes the need to balance expressive activities with campus safety and to preserve the educational environment. Time, place, and manner restrictions may be imposed to ensure that expressive activities do not disrupt the educational process, impede campus operations, or infringe on the rights of others.
  • Reservation and Notification Process: To ensure the orderly use of designated demonstration spaces and prevent scheduling conflicts, students or student organizations planning to hold demonstrations or similar activities must notify the Dean of Belonging, Associate Vice President & Dean of Students, Associate Vice President of Campus Safety, or their designee at least 48 hours in advance.
  • Length of Demonstration Events:
    • Events must occur within 24 hours; no overnight or multiple-day events are permitted. 
    • The event can last up to 6 hours within a single day, with the possibility of an extension upon request and with the approval of the Division of Student Life and Campus Safety. 
    • The event must take place between 8:30 a.m. and sunset. The events must end before sunset to ensure safety and minimize disruption. Specific ending times for events will be determined during the review process.   
    • Events occurring inside spaces must comply with building schedules for opening and closing times as determined during the space reservation process before the event. 
    • Expressive activities will be permitted to continue until and unless College officials determine that there has been a violation of College policy, interruption of its operations, or compromise of the rights of others.
  • Organizers’ Responsibilities:
    • A recognized student organization must be the designated organizer for any expressive activity. 
    • Organizers and associated participants speak only for themselves at public events and actions.
    • Compliance: The organizer must ensure the event complies with existing College policies, procedures, and applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations. Organizers intending to use city sidewalks and streets adjacent to the College should make appropriate arrangements with the City of Memphis.
    • If intending to use city sidewalks and streets, a copy of the permit must be provided to the Dean of Belonging, Associate Vice President & Dean of Students, and Associate Vice President of Campus Safety.
  • Coordination: The organizer of any event held on campus will be responsible for ensuring its smooth and orderly execution and any potential liability. The student organizer(s) must also coordinate security, cleanup, and parking arrangements with the Division of Student Life and Campus Safety. Campus Safety will review the information the organizer(s) provided and make security and staffing determinations. Organizers must cover the costs of all safety and security needed for the expressive event.

Withholding or Withdrawal of Approval

The College may withhold or withdraw approval for any event or activity on College property under this policy if it is deemed inconsistent with the following:

  • Federal, state, or local laws
  • Existing college policies
  • Preservation of safety
  • Maintenance and protection of college property
  • Free flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic

Designated Spaces for Demonstrations

  • Specific Outdoor Areas: Rhodes designates outdoor campus areas as demonstration spaces for students to protest peacefully. These spaces are accessible and conducive to expressing viewpoints while minimizing disruption to academic and administrative activities – The south lawn of Southwestern Hall, the South lawn of Bryan Campus Life Center, and the West lawn behind the Education building and College Bookstore. 
  • Prohibited Areas: Expressive activities are not allowed in specific locations, such as all administrative buildings, classrooms, offices, the College library, and residence halls and rooms, to ensure that normal college operations can continue without interruption. 
  • The organizers must ensure that corridors, stairways, and doorway entrances remain clear and provide unimpeded passage—no obstructing or blocking traffic, driveways, ingress, or egress to college property.

Permissible Forms of Expression

  • Engaging in activities in time periods or physical spaces that are external to the event being protested and do not disrupt the event, including:
    • Organizing a counter-event (e.g., a teach-in) in a different room;
    • Holding a rally in an external space;
    • Passing a Student Government resolution; and
    • Issuing pre/post-event statements, carrying signs, distributing flyers, and using social media to express counterviews.
  • Engaging in activities at the event that maintain the event, such as distributing flyers before and/or after the event.
  • Participating in the interactive components of the event in ways consistent with the event format, such as engagement during the question-and-answer period.
  • Signage: Temporary placards, banners, chalking, and signs are permitted during expressive speech activities at Rhodes College but must adhere to specific guidelines: 
  • All signage must display the name of the sponsoring individual or organization and the date of posting. 
  • Banners and signs may not exceed a size that obstructs visibility, traffic, or other signage. 
  • Chalking is only permitted on horizontal surfaces exposed to the elements, ensuring rain can naturally remove it. 
  • Signs must not be affixed to any campus building, structure, or vegetation and must be removed by the sponsoring party within 24 hours of the conclusion of the event or activity. 
  • Signage must not include hate speech or offensive language.
  • Failure to comply with signage guidelines may result in their removal and potential disciplinary action.

Prohibited Forms of Expression

  • Interfering with class instruction or other scheduled academic, educational, or cultural/arts programs using administrative and academic buildings. 
  • Preventing or disrupting a college function or approved activity, such as lectures, meetings, interviews, ceremonies, student recruitment programs, conducting college business in an office, and public events.
  • Obstructing the legitimate movement of any person about the campus or in any campus building or facility.
  • Disrupting college staff or officials while they are fulfilling their college responsibilities. 
  • Refusing to leave a campus building or facility when asked to do so in the furtherance of the above regulations by a member of the college community acting in an official role and identifying themselves as such. 
  • Students must identify themselves upon request by any college community member acting in an official capacity and identifying themselves as such. No individual on college property shall refuse to provide identification when asked by a college official performing their duties, particularly in situations where assistance or intervention is necessary.
  • Obstructing the passage into or out of buildings by sitting in front of doorways, preventing college employees from entering or exiting their workplace. 
  • Disrupting or interfering with the free speech of others, including: 
    • Preventing an instructor/speaker from giving a talk; 
    • Employing shouts, interruptions, or chants; 
    • Refusing to leave a closed meeting when unauthorized to attend and
    • Preventing class members from hearing a lecture, taking an examination, or intruding upon or refusing to leave a private interview.
  • Constructing unauthorized temporary or permanent structures, walls, barriers, barricades, furniture, or other objects, including: 
    • Encampments, which refer to the setting up of temporary shelters, tents, or structures for prolonged stays, sleeping bags, cots, and any bedding, are prohibited on campus premises. 
    • Barricades are prohibited on campus premises, which refer to any human or physical obstructions intended to restrict or block access to campus buildings, roads, stairs, elevators, or facilities to create or cause unsafe congestion. 
  • Employing sound amplification or creating noise that disrupts college activities or interferes with the exercise of free speech by others (e.g., bullhorns, amplifiers, musical instruments, microphones). 
  • Disguising or concealment of identity: No person, while in College, may wear a mask, personal disguise, or otherwise conceal their identity with the intent of intimidating and harassing any person or group or to evade or escape discovery, recognition, or identification in the commission of violations of applicable college policy or local, state, or federal laws. 

Non-Affiliates on College Property

Non-affiliates are those who are not any of the following: student, employee, officer, trustee, auxiliary employee, official college volunteer, or household member authorized to reside on campus. A non-affiliate must leave College property if instructed to do so by a College official, following a reasonable determination that their presence or actions may disrupt the peaceful conduct of the College’s activities, functions, or operations or if they have entered the premises with the intent to do so. Non-affiliates on College property shall not:

  1. Knowingly and willfully interfere with the peaceful conduct of the activities of the Campus or facility by intimidating, harassing, or obstructing any College employee, student, or any other person.
  2. Delay or linger without a lawful purpose for being on College property, including committing a crime or violating College policy.
  3. Use College property that is not open to the public, including, but not limited to, residence halls, offices, study areas, or recreational facilities, without authorization from the College.

College Response to Policy Violations

Students who believe they have been subjected to harassing speech that is so severe or pervasive that it limits or denies their ability to participate in or benefit from the College's programs or activities should report their concerns to the Director of Institutional Equity charged with enforcing the Nondiscrimination Policy. The college will assess the matter under the Rhodes’ Nondiscrimination Policy's procedures and provide reasonable supportive resources to the affected students.

Even if the activity is deemed protected speech and does not violate Rhodes' policies or applicable laws, the College official charged with enforcing Rhodes’ Nondiscrimination Policy and other appropriate College officials will work with students to provide reasonable supportive services and resources. In those circumstances, although no sanction or action may be taken against the individuals engaged in the protected speech activity, reasonable support and other measures will be provided.

Whether harassing conduct creates an unlawful hostile environment must be determined from the totality of the circumstances. Relevant factors for consideration may include but are not limited to, the context, nature, scope, frequency, duration, and location of the harassment based on race, color, or national origin, as well as the identity, number, age, and relationships of the persons involved. The less pervasive the harassing conduct, the more severe it must be to establish an unlawful hostile environment. For example, in most cases, a single isolated incident would not be sufficient to establish a policy or legal violation. However, in some cases, a hostile environment requiring appropriate responsive action may result from a single severe incident.

Enforcement and Consequences

The established Standards of Conduct process addresses students who violate this policy. Depending on the severity and frequency of the violation, the consequences may range from warnings and removal from college property to more severe outcomes.

No "ordinary" penalty applies to violations of this policy. However, infractions may lead to penalties up to suspension or expulsion. The gravity of the offense and the student's prior conduct are considered; however, the more serious, the penalty. Non-affiliates who violate this policy and/or any applicable laws will be held accountable to the full extent of the College’s authority under existing laws, regulations, and policies. 

***Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the Student Expressive Speech and Demonstration Policy can be found here.