The UNC Protester’s Defense Committee (PDC) of UNC-Chapel Hill, formed after last semester’s widely-publicized student protest of Tom Tancredo (during which campus police officers used pepper spray and tasers against student demonstrators), is once again challenging UNC-CH’s repression of political speech on campus.
On September 2, 2009 Congressperson David Price (NC-4) was invited to speak on campus about healthcare reform. He advocated for a public option as a critical step in increasing healthcare access for low-income Americans. Many students turned out to show their support for these plans for better healthcare for the US, and about 100 people total attended the event in Wilson Hall.
The UNC-Chapel Hill administration banned attendees from bringing signs, banners and even book bags into the event, and assigned as many as fifteen police officers to work security. The PDC believes that the right of students and other community members to express their views at this event was violated by this administration policy and that the environment of repression and control stifled a free exchange of ideas. It also made it harder, particularly for students, to participate in the event as they had to first find somewhere safe to stash their book bags and other belongings before being let into the room.
Student protesters are asking community members to tell the UNC administration that they oppose this repression of free speech. Please email the chancellor with your concerns about these events, or other events where police intimidation has been used to control students (chancellor@unc.edu).
For more information about last semester’s protest against Tom Tancredo, watch this video by our friends at Independent Voices.