Mizzou Bans “Disruptive” Campus Protests
Politically correct students, beware. The University of Missouri is no longer allowing disruptive protests on campus. Mizzou officials are supposedly concerned about protests disturbing “learning” or something like that. I don’t know. Still not totally sure what goes on there.
From The Columbia Tribune:
Officials at the University of Missouri are no longer allowing protests that disrupt campus operations.
MU police told a group of 15 student protesters Wednesday that they would face arrest or student discipline proceedings if their protests disrupted university business.
MUPD Major Brian Weimer, who followed the protesters as they went from the Student Center to Jesse Hall, said the university decided to start enforcing an existing policy against disruptions after receiving complaints from people on campus about past protests.
MU spokeswoman Mary Jo Banken cited Chapter 110 of the UM System’s Collected Rules and Regulations, which says the university can ‘set reasonable time, place and manner restrictions’ on all meetings to prevent ‘interference with the right of students to obtain an education.’
Reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally? You just now decided to enforce that policy? Right now? You didn’t think that’d be a good policy to enforce earlier? No? Okay. No, that’s fine. Makes total sense.
Mizzou is, of course, the birthing ground of the “Year of the Protest” when students last fall protested to remove UM Systems President Tim Wolfe from office. Wolfe, who is white, was accused of…well, again I’m not totally sure.
Interim Chancellor Hank Foley, who took over from former Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin when he stepped aside amidst the protests, said he’s spent the last semester or so meeting with law school experts about how to handle campus protests. Foley, who’s done a surprisingly exceptional job since taking over, suggested university officials weren’t sure of the best way to handle last fall’s protests.
Although most of the media and their cameras have backed away from the Mizzou campus since last fall, the protests have continued (albeit on a smaller scale).
So, what caused the university to put their foot down this time?
The student protesters were part of a day of action against racism and student debt coordinated by the Million Student March. The nationwide protest sought tuition-free public college, cancellation of all student debt, a $15 minimum wage for all campus workers and divestment from private prisons by all higher education institutions.

Oh God. Oh God. It hurts! My sides! Oh God! Bernie Sanders ‘N’ Friends are terrible politicians and fantastic comedians.
As someone who wouldn’t enjoy going to class in a shanty and being educated by a crackhead, I’ll gladly pay tuition. You do you, though, boo.
Still, I wonder if banning protests will incite more protests. I can only hope. I’ve got the popcorn ready..
[via The Columbia Tribune]
Image via Shutterstock
Yeah this will work
9 years ago at 10:34 amCensoring protected speech on public property. I’m SO SURE that this is allowed.
9 years ago at 10:38 amMizzou: Where Amendments go to die
9 years ago at 10:50 amIt is. Political free speech is among the most sacred of American values, but is subject- like everything else- to a reasonable person standard. This is why it is within the rights of soldier’s families whose funerals have been protested by the WBC to sue for emotional damages if the protests disrupt the ceremony. Same concept here: students are free to protest, but they cannot disrupt class in doing so. It may have some lashback, but I respect the Mizzou administration for actually trying to take back what has become a clusterfuck of a university.
9 years ago at 11:19 amyeah its actually not a reasonable person standard. See reasoning below.
9 years ago at 11:27 amIt’s just a slippery slope. “Disruptive” – it’s vague. However… It has to be in order to have an effect. They finally made a step in the right direction; but the real test is entirely in the application. No kudos yet.
9 years ago at 12:28 pmOf course its allowed. Its a limit on time and place rather than content. Any limitation that is content neutral is weighed under intermediate scrutiny which means as long as the action being taken meets an important government interest (or school in this case), and the means taken are substantially related to that interest, the action being taken is not in violation of the first amendment.
9 years ago at 11:25 amEverything you just explained is born and incorporated from the reasonable person standard, which is literally the basis of common law. Talk to me again and you’ll get a swirly, nerd
9 years ago at 11:36 amno no sweetheart, intermediate scrutiny and the reasonable person standard are two very separate definitions and apply to completely different areas of law. Try using the reasonable person standard when you’re supposed to apply intermediate scrutiny and tell me how that goes.
9 years ago at 11:49 amI see ya’lls first bus law classes are coming along nicely.
9 years ago at 12:20 pmAs an attorney who still frequents this site, whoever pays us more has the right standard
9 years ago at 1:09 pmI think the million student march fell a hair short of a millions students
9 years ago at 10:43 amMizzou has become a joke of well everything
9 years ago at 10:47 am“Mizzou is, of course, the birthing ground of the “Year of the Protest””
Sure as hell isn’t year of the Tiger.
9 years ago at 10:47 amTurns out it’s Year of the Monkey. Go figure.
9 years ago at 10:50 amBetter idea: Ban all the liberals.
9 years ago at 10:48 amNot American. Don’t like free speech, leave the country. #NF.
9 years ago at 11:01 amI love free speech. I detest liberals. Fuck outta here, geed.
9 years ago at 11:28 amThen don’t seek to ban people you don’t agree with. Not a geed, not a liberal, just confident enough that I don’t need to “ban” people that disagree with me.
And go fuck yourself, you clearly-mediocre-state-college twat.
9 years ago at 12:47 pmLeftists despise everything America represents, hence their fanatical desire to “fundamentally change” this country into a one-party socialist utopia.
9 years ago at 12:32 pmYou need new material.
9 years ago at 12:49 pmPreach
9 years ago at 9:13 amNah, this is bullshit. Liberals have the right to embarrass themselves in public.
9 years ago at 10:51 amGoddam my generation sucks
9 years ago at 10:53 amDespising the free lunch TFM
9 years ago at 11:19 amLap me all you want, but how much do you hate your school? Christ, you obviously go here. Has this shit really affected your day-to-day life on campus enough to dedicate a fuck ton of your time writing these articles? Last time I checked there has never been a protest outside of Harpos, Big 12, or Bengals (RIP). People hollering and running around makes me laugh while listening to Travis Tritt on the way to class. It’s irritating, sure, but theres stupid people everywhere. Jonathon Butler is undeniably a piece of shit. Im not proud of how the institution handled all the incidents but it sure as shit hasn’t kept me from having a great time over the years. I get you probably get compenseated per page view but still.
9 years ago at 11:29 am