Students wearing pro-union shirts barred from Loyola buildings

Following Friday's rally and march through Loyola's Danna Center, students who were wearing purple shirts emblazoned with "Clean Up Sodexo" were questioned by Loyola Police, ordered to present a Loyola ID, and denied access to the Danna Student Center and Marquette Hall, an academic and administrative building.

Earlier in the day, the Loyola police were behaving sympathetically to the assembled students and workers. A Loyola Police officer remarked that he would allow the day's events to continue so long as all demonstrations were non-violent.  What had happened to change the LUPD's tone?  It seems that Loyola's administration ordered the police to block the doors.  Police Chief Bailey stated that the orders to keep out students wearing pro-union shirts came from Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Robert Reed. Reed cited the Loyola student handbook which states:

Section 2. II. B. Students and student organizations are free to examine and discuss all questions of interest to them and to express opinions publicly and privately.  They are free to support causes by means which do not disrupt the regular and essential operation of the institution.   In their public expressions or demonstrations, students and/or student organizations speak only for themselves and are bound by standards of conduct published by the University.

Students were told they were not allowed to enter the Danna Center because the Clean Up Sodexo shirt they were wearing amounted to a "disruption" to the "regular and essential operation of the institution."  The police didn't care that the students simply wished to enter the student center that their tuition dollars fund to access the meal plan they have paid for. The student's action's inside the Danna Center were not the concern. The shirt was the sole concern. Loyola police continued enforcing this new policy until approximately 4:00 PM Friday when purple-shirted students were allowed to freely enter the building.

Loyola's new "policy" and actions call into question to what extent Loyola plans on limiting free speech and the freedom of expression in the name of not "disrupting the regular and essential operation" of the university.  The inclusion of the "disruption clause" is no accident. It is intentionally crafted to be used as a tool to silence students and student organizations whose speech on campus is not viewed as welcome on campus. See FIRE's guide to Free Speech on Campus, in particular the section on Private Universities which begins on page 49, for a good summary of the growing trend of private universities cracking down on free speech rights.

The action of denying students entrance into the Danna Center based on their affiliation with pro-union causes, not on their actions, calls into question Loyola's policy of freedom of expression and inquiry.

Finally, keeping union-supporting students out of the Danna Center sends the message that Loyola opposes unionization efforts. This directly contradicts Loyola's position as a neutral body in the unionization process.