The school has a new policy on window displays and has removed pride flags from windows during spring break. The objecting professors are crying free speech, naturally.
The student paper, the Daily Free Press, reports:
‘That’s selective enforcement’: BU professors mobilize after University removes pride flags during spring breakFaculty are speaking out against Boston University’s signage policy amid ongoing disagreements over the removal of public-facing pride flags in office windows, an issue faculty say is an unnecessary breach of free speech.Several faculty members sent letters to BU President Melissa Gilliam after pride flags were stripped from the windows of three campus locations, including the office of one professor who has a storied history with the signage policy, while Commonwealth Avenue was vacant for spring break.The University has not responded to faculty as of Tuesday evening, faculty members told The Daily Free Press.BU’s administration removed pride flags on display at three locations: the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies offices at 704 Commonwealth Ave., Liz Bettini’s office in the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development at 2 Silber Way and Nathan Phillips’ office in the College of Arts and Sciences at 675 Comm. Ave.“I find it 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,” Bettini said. “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.”The removals are part of a crackdown for violations of the signage rules detailed in BU’s Events and Demonstrations Policy. Signage cannot be outward facing, meaning it “may not be affixed to any University-owned property, including walls, windows, or furniture,” the policy reads.
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