IU anticipates that ongoing protests could occur at commencement ceremonies this weekend.
A university email to graduates and their families this week said protesters will have a designated area outside the graduation venues.
The graduate student commencement will be 2:30 p.m. Friday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and the undergraduate commencement will be at 7 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
“IU respects the free sharing of ideas and viewpoints, and it is our duty to uphold the right to peaceful protest under the First Amendment,” the email says. No signature was included in the email.
It also said banners, placards and flags are specifically banned in the venues.
Hannah Skibba of the IU Police Department said protesters are also free to use public spaces such as sidewalks. She said police will first redirect violators to the designated zones; failure to comply could result in different penalties “on a case-by-case basis.”
Indiana Public Media has not identified the locations of those zones, but IUPD is working to confirm them.
Read: How some faculty members are defending student protesters, in actions and in words
Commencement this year coincides with some of the largest protests in the history of the university. A group demanding IU divest from Israel and Crane Naval Base has been occupying Dunn Meadow since last Wednesday, accusing the university of complicity in Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
President Pamela Whitten and Provost Rahul Shrivastav are both scheduled to speak at the ceremonies. The two faced faculty votes of no confidence in April and a rally this week demanding their resignations, as well as petitions and resolutions from units on campus demanding their removal.
While she often shares images of herself in public interacting with the community, Whitten hasn’t posted on social media since Tuesday before the protests began.
The protests resulted from dissatisfaction with their handling of events in the last year, including refusal to recognize a graduate worker union, cancelling an art exhibit by a prominent Palestinian alumna, suspending a professor who sponsored a pro-Palestine group on campus, a proposal to separate from the Kinsey Institute and the passage of a bill that limits tenure in Indiana.
Turnout at protests increased last week, when IU invited the Indiana State Police to clear tents from a pro-Palestine protest; officers arrived heavily armed and arrested 57 people, including many faculty and students.
Listen: Interview with ISP Superintendent on protests
Those arrested received bans from entering campus for at least a year, meaning that graduating seniors could be unable to attend commencement. They may appeal their bans with the IUPD, and Whitten said in a statement that trespass bans would be halted “in nearly all cases” during the appeals process. The Indiana Daily Student reported that some have struggled to contact the department.
IU will maintain a police presence during commencement, including ISP. State police are a regular fixture on game days directing traffic, but their presence is usually less conspicuous.
In a statement, Skibba confirmed: “as with any large event like football or basketball, local and state law enforcement agencies will assist with security operations.”
ISP spokesperson Kevin Getz confirmed that IU requested assistance for commencement and that state police would be there. He declined to share details about operations, personnel or tactics.
Indiana University declined our request for an interview with Whitten.
