EDITORS' CORNER
Professors urge school to stop ‘selectively targeting speech’
Boston University administration received a letter this month from faculty decrying its decision to remove pride flags from offices on campus.
Administrators removed the flags from windows at three locations on campus, including the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department and two professors’ offices, according to The Daily Free Press.
Professors Joseph Harris and Mary Battenfeld wrote in their letter that “it is profoundly sad and disappointing to see the university administration adopt policies that so deeply contradict not only the university’s historical legacy and values, but that of the state and city in which its faculty and students live.”
Harris and Battenfeld, who also serve as co-presidents of BU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, urged university president Melissa Gilliam to “stop selectively targeting speech that the Trump administration does not like and rescind the underlying policy.”
They also wrote that the nation’s first gay marriage was officiated in Boston and that the city council “has declared Boston a sanctuary city for LGBTQIA2s+ community.”
“And BU’s own WGS program has issued its own statement about the history of the Pride flag,” they wrote.
Further, the letter notes that Harvard University recently decided to ease its campus signage restrictions.
“Harvard administrators recently wisely decided to allow free expression in newly adopted policies, recognizing that an administration that actively seeks to remove Black Lives Matter signs and Pride flags is making a statement – one that has historical ramifications that is ultimately an immoral one,” it states.
Professor Liz Bettini, whose pride flag was removed, told The Daily Free Press, it is “dispiriting that a symbol that is intended to signal to everybody that they’re welcome is being treated the same way as symbols of hate.”
“It seems like the University is under the impression that we have to treat all symbols, all expression, in the same way [and] that in order to comply with free speech policies, we have to treat the pride flag the same way we would treat a swastika,” she said.
Professor David Phillips, who has repeatedly clashed with the university over its signage policy, told BU administration he believes the policy is being selectively enforced, pointing to other window signs across campus, including an American flag and a Seattle Kraken flag.
Last year, the school removed his “Free Mahmoud” sign during spring break.
Boston University is cracking down on violations of its Events and Demonstrations Policy, which states that signs “may not be affixed to any University-owned property, including walls, windows, or furniture.”
BU spokesperson Colin Riley told the student newspaper that university leaders first ask individuals to remove their signs themselves and relocate them before staff take them down.
“This is a content-neutral policy, meaning any signage must be removed, and policy enforcement is not an endorsement nor rejection of any point of view,” Riley stated.
“We remain committed to ensuring BU is an inclusive, welcoming, and supportive community, and there are many ways to express and demonstrate our values consistent with policies,” he stated.
Similar crackdowns on flags and signage have occurred at other campuses.
Last year, the Catholic University of America removed a display of Israeli flags that students set up in memory of the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel, The College Fix previously reported.
In 2022, Trinity College removed two patriotic flags that students had hung outside their dorm window after receiving complaints that the display was offensive.
One year prior, a professor at the University of Southern California faced backlash for displaying a Blue Lives Matter flag on his office door, with some students calling it inappropriate and urging its removal, but he refused.
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