NC State, Drop the Charges and Protect Our Speech
North Carolina State University
On February 2nd, 2024, NC State administration unjustly and arbitrarily instructed police to arrest a member of the Young Democratic Socialists of America at NC State for handing out literature outside of the Engineering Career Fair about the complicity and involvement of certain attending companies in the ongoing Israeli genocide of Palestinians. This student was peaceful, not disrupting or impeding any pedestrian traffic into the McKimmon Center, yet was criminally charged with “trespassing."
This unnecessary and escalatory arrest by NC State administration brings into question the universities’ proclaimed commitment to “creating and supporting an environment where freedom of speech and expression thrive” and its vision of “advancing the greater good.” With this arrest, NC State knowingly continued its pattern of endangering student health, suppressed free speech in favor of corporate interests, and sent a message to other students that they must conform or face the consequences.
[ Read our full statement here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hOiMLTtLhji0mKaWuVEpHLMfjrdgkoJHRVaca7aoKFw/edit?usp=sharing ]Petition by
Sponsored by
To:
North Carolina State University
From:
[Your Name]
We demand that NC State University:
1. Drop the campus trespass and university disciplinary charges levied against this individual.
2. Declare and subsequently demonstrate by action their commitment to free speech on campus. It is impossible to operate safely within this current system designed to stifle us. Powerful free speech will challenge capital and the status quo and the university must still protect this speech. Free speech cannot be confined only to the university’s arbitrarily chosen “designated areas,” non-hateful free speech must be allowed across all areas of campus.
It is difficult to even flier at NC State as there are few remaining public bulletin boards and no kiosks. Advertising in Talley Student Union, the busiest spot on campus, is limited only to events occurring that week within Talley Student Union. We demand NC State revise its policies to better protect our right to free speech and its campus to better facilitate and support this essential right. Moreover, NC State admin must face consequences if found abusing their discretion to suppress or target certain individuals or groups.
This statement reflects the opinions of NC State YDSA.