During a governance committee meeting on Dec. 5, 2024, members of the University of New Mexico Board of Regents passed amendments to UNM’s free speech policies, which will allow groups to rent spaces at UNM regardless of the nature of their speech.
Robert Schwartz and Paula Tackett, the committee meeting’s two Regent attendees, voted on amendments to the Regents' Policy Manual Section 2.1: Free Expression and Advocacy, Section 2.2: Speakers from Off Campus and Section 2.8: Visitors to the University. The amendments went into effect Dec. 19.
In a statement to the Daily Lobo, UNM Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Cinnamon Blair wrote that the policy amendments “reaffirm the Board of Regents’ commitment to uphold the tenets of the First Amendment, provide clarification of what constitutes protected speech … and the expectations the University has for visitors to our campus.”
UNM Interim General Counsel Scot Sauder said during the Dec. 5 meeting that controversial groups such as Turning Point USA or the Ku Klux Klan will be allowed to rent spaces at UNM by using objective criteria that is not dependent on the nature of the speech that will occur.
“The use of a University venue or the sponsorship of an off-campus speaker by a University unit does not amount to University endorsement of the content of the event or the views expressed,” Section 2.2 reads.
The updated policy also states that regents will “condemn conduct that includes discriminatory, stereotypical, and derogatory speech targeted at one or more students and individuals based upon their actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, citizenship, or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity.”
During an interview with the Daily Lobo, Schwartz said that while UNM can have principles of equity and inclusion, a group like the KKK has the right to talk about why these principles are “bad.”
“But the University has a right to respond and say, ‘We recognize your right to participate in speech on campus. We disagree with you as a matter of policy,’” Schwartz said.
It is a person’s First Amendment right to make any speech, Schwartz said, as long as there is not an imminent threat of lawless behavior at the University.
“If someone says, ‘Grab a stick, light it on fire, we're gonna go to the union to burn it down,’ then there’s a chance that that might happen, and that's no longer protected speech,” he said.
During the Dec. 5 committee meeting, Sauder said the amendments to Section 2.8 are related to the pro-Palestine Duck Pond encampment that began in April 2024.
“It seeks to make it very clear that folks are welcome, but if asked to leave, they need to leave,” Sauder said during the meeting.
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Blair wrote that the policies were updated to clarify the expectations of visitors when they are on campus, as well as the requirement for visitors to comply with UNM policy and the law.
“The encampment at the Duck Pond in 2024 prompted the University to review and clarify its policies related to free speech, changes in the law and visitors on our campus,” Blair wrote.
If Section 2.8 is violated, an offender may be subject to disciplinary actions that include expulsion, barring from campus or arrest by law enforcement.
The policy changes received unanimous approval in committee, according to the Dec. 19 Regents meeting agenda. The amendments were posted alongside the agenda and are reflected on the UNM Policy Office website.
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on X @paloma_chapa88
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
