As President Lawrence Bacow considers new freedom of expression standards for the university, Tufts Community Union (TCU) senators will call for student involvement.
Bacow's efforts stem from the Committee on Student Life's (CSL) decision last spring finding The Primary Source guilty of harassment and creating a hostile environment. Bacow later announced that the CSL was ill-equipped to hear the case and that Tufts should adopt First Amendment protections.
"Universities are places where people should have the right to freely express opinions, no matter how offensive, stupid, wrong-headed, ill-considered or unpopular," he told the community in an August e-mail. "While Tufts is a private institution and not technically bound by First Amendment guarantees, it is my intention to govern as president as if we were."
Since then, he has presented his ideas to the Board of Trustees and worked on forming a committee to that end. Now, the Senate wants in.
On Sunday, senators will introduce a resolution formally calling for some type of input on the decisions of the committee, which is still in its developmental stages.
Junior Senator Matt Shapanka, who authored the resolution, said that this participation is necessary because students bore the brunt of the effects coming out of the Source's controversial publications of "O Come All Ye Black Folk" and "Islam - Arabic Translation: Submission."
"There were faculty and administrators who were affected as well, but the outcry was primarily from students," he said.
Bacow supports the resolution. "Student input will be essential," he told the Daily in an e-mail.
Still, because the committee will be university-wide, he is not sure if there will be enough room on it for students.
"I need to make sure it is not too large or it will be unwieldy," he said. "The 'Noah's Ark' approach to committee formation rarely works."
TCU President Neil DiBiase said that senators are not necessarily expecting that students will be full members.
"I don't think the committee has really taken shape yet, so whether [participation] is by proxy vote or someone actually sitting on the committee will depend," he said.
Also unclear is whether the committee will adopt a full First Amendment standard or some type of middle ground.
Either way, Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said that some difficult choices are on the horizon.
"I think freedom of expression is a critical element to a university that is a marketplace of ideas [and] a place where we learn from one another. And we can't do that unless we talk about our beliefs and feelings," he said. "On the other hand, I understand the need for civility in that exchange ... What I hope is that we can find some creative way to ensure that civility doesn't abridge freedom of expression."
Sarah Wunsch, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Massachusetts, echoed the need for freedom of expression.
She wrote a letter to Bacow and Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser in May asking them to overturn the CSL decision. Glaser later set aside a byline requirement imposed by the CSL, and Wunsch has since been enthusiastic about Bacow's First Amendment views.
"[Universities] are places where freedom of thought has to be protected and students have to learn to grapple with differences of opinion and advocacy," she said.
She hopes that the Tufts model, if implemented, will have reverberating effects. "I'll be interested to see what they come up with and I hope it will be useful at other private universities and colleges," she said.
But it is still unclear what level of support Bacow's ideas have, even on the Tufts campus. The Senate will aim to examine this through its ad hoc committee on community values, which has been active since last semester.
"I think it will be an interesting conversation to open up to the campus," DiBiase said.
TCU Vice President Bruni Hirsch agreed, noting that it could expose sharp divides within the community.
"I think this can be extremely controversial," she said of the idea of holding Tufts to First Amendment guarantees. "It's already extremely controversial within the Senate. I don't know what students will think."
When Bacow's committee eventually reaches a consensus, he will present the decision to the Board of Trustees.
Since the Board's executive committee already signed off on Bacow's ideas pending a formal policy presentation, Secretary of the Trustees Linda Dixon expects the body will back whatever recommendation he makes.
"I think if the president thinks it's important, [the trustees] are certainly supportive," she said.
