By Laurie Frost
To protest, or not to protest ? that is the question. Ever since campus police squelched the recent anti-war protest in Brigham Square Nov. 30, the issue has many BYU students scratching their heads and asking why a peace protest was so quickly shut down.
Ironically, the anti-war protesters were disbanded, not for the content of the protest, but because they hadn?t applied for approval from the dean of students.
Now, the moderate majority is trying to understand just how protests work at BYU. Protests are infrequent, because protesters have to jump through a series of hoops before they can actually carry their signs.
?I?ve never actually seen a protest at BYU,? said Felipe Sanchez, an international relations major.
Michael Smart, university media relations manager, said BYU?s guidelines were instituted to keep protesters from disrupting or preventing learning.
?The guidelines also help students work with administrators to come up with the most effective ways to foster dialogue and raise awareness about the issues that are important to them,? Smart said.
As a private school, BYU has the right to enforce stringent guidelines on protests, from the developmental stage all the way up to the execution. The BYU Student Handbook reads, ?All public expression? must be organized and approved in accordance with established university policy ? and must comply with the Political Neutrality of Brigham Young University Policy.?
However, Alan Peters, a freshman from Oak Lawn, Ill., said he feels BYU isn?t necessarily politically neutral because of its mostly conservative student population.
?I just think that people need to know that there isn?t just one way of doing things,? Peters said. ? a fundamental right we have in this country.?
In order to get this approval, students must submit a Request for Public Expression form detailing the time, place and purpose of the protest. This request can take up to five days to process, but the Student Life Office may shorten the deadline in case of pressing circumstances, such as the timeliness of the issue. Then students are required to meet with a representative of the Student Life Office in Room 3500 WSC before they can actually protest.
Peters said he hopes to see more protests in the future.
? might give students a little more confidence to speak out,? Peters said. ?I think it?s good to know that we aren?t all sheep here.?