VCU students protest proposed demonstration change to Code of Conduct

Zack Budryk
Capital News Service

About 30 VCU students and activists gathered in Monroe Park Friday to bring attention to a controversial proposed policy restricting on- and off-campus demonstrations.

Several weeks ago, the university introduced a proposed amendment to the Student Code of Conduct, which would prohibit “participating in an on-campus or off-campus demonstration, riot or activity that disrupts the normal operations of the university and/or infringes on the rights of others; leading or inciting others to disrupt scheduled and/or normal activities within any campus building or area.”

Nicholas DeFilippis of VCU’s Students for a Democratic Society said that this wording was far too vague. “They don’t define what is considered disruptive or what the ‘normal operations’ of the university are,” said DeFilippis, who organized the demonstration.

“Obviously there are things that are clearly disruptive and abnormal for a university, but the proposed code leaves it so open-ended that they could easily be manipulated by an administrator who may not like what some demonstration is about,” he said.

Phil Cunningham, another SDS member, said that while the proposed changes had been submitted to VCU students for comment, he took issue with how it was done.

“The review for the general student body wasn’t released until … maybe a week or two ago,” Cunningham said. “People are gearing up to do their finals, they’re studying they’re trying to do a lot of homework. … People don’t have time … to read their school’s code of conduct.”

As the demonstration began, participants stood in a group, some holding signs and others handing out fliers explaining the event. There was also material distributed for other campus causes, such as the campaign for a living wage for adjunct faculty. When the event began, an open mic forum was set up in the center of the crowd for announcements.

During this phase of the protest, VCU student Gary Llamas pointed out another provision of the proposed amendments.

“The last line says (that) if any administrator deems you to be in violation of the Code of Conduct, not only will you be in violation. … But anyone standing by at the scene of the violation of the Code of Conduct will be in violation.”

Since the controversy began, the school administration has announced a public forum on the amendments. They have also announced that the section on riots and demonstrations will be revised.

DeFilippis still said that the student body should remain vigilant.

“VCU’s revisions may still leave the proposed code open to abuse or worse, further restricting our rights,” he said. “We are demonstrating so they know the students will not tolerate any further attempts to violate their rights.”