Brown's general counsel and top student life officials reviewed the University's policy regarding political speech on campus for members of the Brown University Community Council in its monthly meeting Tuesday afternoon. Members also heard a presentation on campus safety and discussed efforts to manage rising demand for parking on College Hill.
Clarifying the University's policy on campus political speech, administrators said they believe it's important to encourage student political activity on campus, but that, as a non-profit organization, Brown must comply with certain rules. The University can't hold any fund-raising events on its campus, but it can host speakers.
Administrators are in the process of redrafting a policy to better reflect the school's goals, said Russell Carey '91 MA'06, interim vice president for campus life and student services.
The current policy is not as helpful as it could be, said Ricky Gresh, director of student activities. Student groups looking to bring speakers to campus should be able to follow a set policy, he added. But there should not be a standard for political speakers different from the rules that govern any event sponsored by a student group, Gresh added.
Candidates may also rent University facilities, independent of an invitation to campus, just like any other individual or group can, Carey said.
Beverly Ledbetter, vice president and general counsel, said IRS guidelines apply to all universities, but must be "context-driven" and interpreted in developing a Brown-specific policy.
"You're not going to find cross-campus consistency," she said. "It's an integration of the law and the campus culture, (though) there will be some underlying themes across all campuses."
The University is required to stay neutral and allow all candidates to receive equal access to the campus, she said. If multiple candidates are invited to campus and only one accepts, that individual still may speak here. "It's all about giving opportunity," Gresh said. "Not how they use it."
Council members asked about candidate propaganda around campus, including stickers on dorm windows. One council member asked whether it's permissible for candidates to appear at Brown on the same day they hold fund-raising events off-campus.
Ledbetter said that as long as no University mechanisms or resources are used, Brown cannot preclude fund raising from occurring on the same night that a candidate visits Brown. Stickers are acceptable, but there is a prohibition against using the campus as an advertisement space, she said.
Michael McCormick, assistant vice president of planning, design and construction, also presented on the University's parking crunch at the meeting. He first showed council members a 1925 newspaper clipping that argued Providence needed to fix its transportation issues. Since then, however, parking and transportation have been perennial problems for the city. The three main areas that need to be addressed are demand, management and parking, he said.
McCormick presented recommendations from the College Hill Parking Task Force, which is comprised of businesses, neighborhood associations and College Hill institutions. The group has focused on on-street parking since 2006.
The task force's key finding was that enough parking spaces exist to fill demands on the Hill - but parking demand must be better managed. The city needs to better accommodate all-day parking for individuals who work on College Hill, McCormick said. The current regulations create a shuffle for parking spots every few hours.
McCormick cited a study that shows 30 percent of traffic comes from people looking for a place to park on College Hill, suggesting that more feasible long-term parking options would also reduce traffic.
The task force also found that signage on College Hill is confusing and inconsistent and that pedestrian behavior, particularly on busy intersections like the corner of Angell and Brown streets, slows traffic down.
The task force suggested that the city implement new street-by-street regulations to combat the current discrepancies and to strike a balance between short- and long-term parking. The group also recommended installing meters for long-term parking, which would keep short-term vehicles out of spots and encourage carpooling and public transit.
The University has addressed demand management by increasing safeRIDE programs, joining the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority's UPASS program, limiting student parking and working to reduce the minimum age to rent a Zipcar to 18, McCormick said. Administrators also want to manage demand through carpool incentives, making the campus more bike-friendly and increasing parking rates.
Projected growth in faculty, staff and graduate students and the loss of parking spaces due to construction will lead the University to lease 250 off-campus parking spaces next year for student parking. Though the location of these spaces has not yet been determined, they will be accessible by safeRIDE and RIPTA and monitored by 24-hour security. The University will study other options for student parking as it continues construction, McCormick said.
Vice President of Administration and Chief Risk Officer Walter Hunter and Director of Public Safety Mark Porter also made a presentation to the council, discussing crime reduction, safety enhancement, enhanced coordination with the Office of Student Life, an internal review of the Department of Public Safety and increased background checks for all new, part-time and temporary staff.
Attendees didn't hear from President Ruth Simmons on any of the issues covered, as she was out sick. Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 presided instead.
