Open expression guidelines adopted

After over two years of debate, President Sheldon Hackney has adopted new Guidelines on Open Expression which took effect Tuesday. The newly-adopted policy does not differ substantially from the most recent version of the guidelines. Assistant to the President Stephen Steinberg said the only changes made were technical, such as correcting titles. University Council endorsed the revisions to the guidelines at its meeting last month. In the two year development of the new code, one of the most discussed changes was a clause stating that, when two University policies conflict, the Open Expression Guidelines always take precedence. Although cases which seem to challenge parts of the University's policy continue to be brought to courts across the country, Steinberg said it is unlikely any current case will affect the new policy. "It is all the same issue," Steinberg said. "It is the issue of where you draw the line. Two years ago we were addressing the issue of where to draw the line. Until I see the decisions, I couldn't say for sure. Something new would have to come up to force us to look at it again." The University, because it is a private institution, would not be bound by any court decision about the legality of similar guidelines. Robert Davies, the chairperson of the Committee on Open Expression, said the guidelines were instituted in 1969 after student protests against recruitment on campus by Dow Chemical. Some students were upset with Dow, a company which was producing Napalm being used in the Vietnam War, and Davies said the students were prosecuted under University rules, but some felt a more coherent set of guidelines was needed.

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