Free Speech Versus Candidate Endorsement Limits

       A VERY timely and interesting article in the Inside Higher Education daily eMail today about the new University of Illinois policy that bans the wearing of campaign buttons, sporting of bumper stickers, and attendance at campaign rallies ON CAMPUS for employees of the University.  As expected, the outcry from staff and especially professors was quick and loud.

     Without taking sides, I wanted to explain to everyone what the issues were because it is a 4-way conflict between:

1. The right to free political speech,
2. Workplace rules,
3. The college's broad definition of workplace free speech, and
4. The IRS rules that nonprofits cannot directly support political candidates.

    First, we all have the right to support the political party and candidate of our choice under free speech.  On our private property and in the public locations, we can do, wear or say pretty much whatever we want as long as it follows the law.  It is not only allowed, it is encouraged that citizens be legally pro-active in the political process.  So if you want to wear a button or put a poster in your window or a sign on your lawn, it is your right.

     However, political speech can be constrained by the policy of your workplace as long as it is equally applied.  Companies usually restrict things that an employee may find offensive. This is because of all the lawsuits that have been filed regarding hostile or discriminatory work environments.  So most employers practice work site neutrality for virtually everything from religion to politics.  As an employee, you can expect to be asked to remove or cover political buttons or t-shirts.

    What creates a challenge for colleges is they do not think of themselves as a "traditional" workplace.   Colleges consider themselves a unique location where free speech of any kind is considered an essential part of their reason for being.  University staff usually felt their colleges were  "public" areas where workplace rules do not apply.  Students as "customers" are allowed to freely express their beliefs on campus.  So it was natural for professors and staff  to feel they too could participate as if the college were not their workplace!    But this has now run headlong into IRS rules for nonprofits!

     The IRS rules on nonprofits are VERY clear that they are not allowed to be partisan and support a specific political candidate.  This means that university employees including professors cannot show support WHILE THEY ARE BEING EMPLOYEES.  So to protect their tax-free status, the U of Illinois has issued rules on what staff can and cannot have or do while on campus -- their workplace. 

    It will be interesting to see if the professors on the U of Illinois finally understand what it is like out here in work-land where we have to adhere to rules that they have traditionally supported but not been constrained by because of their "special" nature. 

    What do you think of the new policy of U of Illinois?

Comments

[Mark Montgomery]

Hi.
I agree that this is becoming a sticky wicket for colleges. Professors do not understand "work land," as you point out. They believe that their land is somehow divorced from the rest of reality. Tenure helps to perpetuate this special status: the myth academics perpetuate is that tenure is a protection of "free speech." Not really, but it's senseless to argue with most tenured professors. I think it's interesting that this restriction at Illinois is coming first from a public university, not a private one.