Students and faculty gathered at Indiana University’s Sample Gates late Sunday night for the second candlelight vigil protesting new restrictions on campus speech and announced that they will continue for the foreseeable future.
Russ Skiba, professor emeritus in the department of counseling and educational psychology said they plan to continue to hold candlelight vigils every Sunday at 11pm in response to the university sanctioning nine individuals who attended the previous vigil.
“What we're seeing is an administration that is seems to be quite willing to escalate its actions to make its point,” he said. “And I think we'll continue to see an increase in resistance to that.”
The ‘Candlelight Nine’ as they were referred to during the protest, include doctoral student Bryce Greene, Germanic Studies professor Ben Robinson, and seven other faculty members who announced they attended the vigil via the internet.
The protesters gathered around 11 p.m. where they had an open format speaking period followed by a ‘social justice party game’ where everyone read quotes from famous historical figures throughout history.
They also used chalk to write ‘Whitten’s regime begins here,’ ‘Divest from Israel,’ and more on the sidewalk.
A handful of plainclothes IUPD officers watched over the event but didn’t interfere.
The crowed fully dispersed by 12:45 a.m.
This comes after the ACLU of Indiana filed a lawsuit against the university over its new expressive activity policy.
