Indiana University chose the “safest option available” in calling in Indiana State Police (ISP) to detain protesters in Dunn Meadow and “caused a number of unintended negative consequences” through its last-minute change to its tent policy the night before, an independent review of the events in Dunn Meadow commissioned by the university found.
The 77-page review, conducted by Chicago-based international law firm Cooley LLP, examined the events that transpired at Dunn Meadow on April 25 and 27 and the campus climate in the months leading up to them. The law firm used over 10,000 internal documents and reviewed more than 100 hours of footage, as well as conducting interviews with police agencies, students, faculty and IU administrators. The review was first requested during a listening session between IU President Pamela Whitten and College of Arts and Sciences faculty in May.
In its key observations, the review said IU’s last-minute policy change on the use of structures in Dunn Meadow “caused a number of unintended negative consequences,” said “IU’s leadership balanced free speech, campus safety, and regular university operations amidst a challenging and rapidly evolving situation,” and calling in ISP was “the safest option available to remove the encampment.”
The review provided eight recommendations for IU moving forward, centered around issues with inconsistencies in policy, the safety of the campus community, and “communication with university stakeholders.” Key recommendations include approving a new expressive activities policy, increasing funding to IUPD and “improv[ing] communications involving critical constituencies on campus.”The review also illuminates details of the last-minute process to ban encampments in Dunn Meadow the night before the protest, logged incidents and complaints of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus in prior months and the intelligence Indiana University police and Indiana State Police operated with when clearing the encampments.
An inside look: 'I begged you yesterday not to make martyrs'
Law firm’s key observations include “decades-long” history of inconsistent policy enforcement
Cooley’s review included five key observations.
IU’s leadership balanced free speech, campus safety, and regular university operations amidst a challenging and rapidly evolving situation.
IU leadership’s decision to change the Dunn Meadow policy was permissible under university policies and applicable legal standards, including the First Amendment; however, doing so the night before the planned encampment caused a number of unintended negative consequences.
IU has a decades-long history of inconsistently enforcing its policies, which has caused confusion and frustration and makes governance difficult.
IU administrators repeatedly asked the protesters to remove the encampment structures and to continue the protest without them, but some protesters refused, and ultimately, using ISP’s assistance was the safest option available to remove the encampment.
IUPD is a critical university-wide resource, but understaffing causes myriad negative effects.
Law firm’s eight recommendations include new expressive activities policy, better communication
The Cooley report made eight recommendations.
IU should approve a new expressive activity policy.
To establish more clear and more consistent policies, the IU president should direct a review for gaps or inconsistences between university-wide and campus-specific policies and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees on necessary changes.
IU should implement adequate training and communication about its policies and appropriate audit procedures to ensure consistent application.
IU should establish a plan for implementing any new policy related to expressive activity.
IU should clearly communicate this plan to relevant stakeholders and set expectations regarding ISP’s involvement.
IU should impose predictable and consistent conduct consequences for violating any new policy.
IU should increase funding to IUPD in order to hire and retain more officers and bolster existing training and technological capacity.
IU should consider using campus-wide communications to alert the IU community of encampments or other large-scale or disruptive protests.
IU should consider adopting a policy of not issuing official statements about public matters that do not directly affect the university’s core functions.
IU should improve communications involving critical constituencies on campus.
Dunn Meadow policy from ad-hoc committee was finalized at 11:49 the night before protest
The review illuminates the creation and deliberative process of the ad-hoc committee convened by Provost Rahul Shrivastav the night before the encampment.
According to the review, members of IU’s administration learned of the encampment on the afternoon before April 25. Monitoring the national situation at Columbia and New York University, administrators believed an encampment at IU could pose the “potential for significant disruption” and feared that “students could attempt to seize control of university buildings.”
Administrators reportedly worried the encampment could lead to people unaffiliated with IU “entering campus with the intent to live there for an indefinite period of time,” and that “Bloomington’s large, unhoused population could move into the encampment.”
Whitten held a virtual meeting at 9:30 p.m. on April 24 with Shrivastav, Indiana University Police Department (IUPD) Superintendent Ben Hunter, General Counsel attorneys and “four-to-five other executive-level administrators” to explore options for revising the Dunn Meadow policy and preventing the encampment.
“Noting these safety concerns and examples across the country, the participants came to the collective decision that IU should not allow an encampment or tents to be set up in the first place,” the review said.
During the meeting, Hunter said IUPD didn’t have the necessary staff or training to clear an encampment and would need to request assistance from ISP, although administration “hoped that the situation could be diffused without any police involvement.”
At the advice of IU lawyers, Shrivastav convened the ad-hoc committee at 10:30 p.m. Shrivastav reportedly asked Lamar Hylton, vice provost for student life, to “represent the student perspective” as the IU student fovernment did not have a sitting president at the time.
The ad-hoc committee moved to ban tents or “structures” in Dunn Meadow without prior approval from the university and decided on a “three-pronged” approach for notifying protesters of the new policy, including yard signs in Dunn Meadow, the distribution of leaflets and verbal warnings from IUPD. The committee finalized and approved the new policy at 11:49 p.m.
While the review described protesters’ confused response to the new policy and their refusal to accept leaflets and verbal warnings, it did not mention how IUPD officers and the Demonstration Response and Safety Team (DRST) failed to clarify that there was a new policy approved by administration the night before. The review also said, “the updated Dunn Meadow regulation was posted on IU Bloomington’s Office of Student Life website, but it was not easy to find.”
Police thought buckets, rocks could be used as weapons
The review details how throughout the first three days of the encampment, police believed protesters had the potential of becoming violent.
The review said IUPD and ISP had reportedly become aware of a social media post “encouraging the use of firearms to defend against allegedly unlawful police action” on April 27, and believed that buckets and rocks observed at the encampment could be used as shields. They also noted protesters were listening to the police scanner and IUPD and ISP officers were being “followed and surveilled” around Bloomington.
According to the review, IU administrators chose not to widely disseminate notice ISP would be coming to clear the encampment on April 27, as IUPD and ISP officers were concerned “if the information reached the protesters in advance, there would be an increased risk of violence and injuries.”
To date, only one violence-related charge was filed against a protester for allegedly biting an officer, which was later settled through diversion.
Review details complaints of antisemitism, Islamophobia at IU before and during encampment
The review says in the months leading up to and during the protest, incidents of both antisemitism and Islamophobia were reported to IU and IUPD.
According to the review, Chabad House, the Orthodox Jewish community center on campus, received a bomb threat on Jan. 8. On March 4, two professors “reported receiving threatening emails in Hebrew and English.”
The review says on Dec. 19 of last year, multiple students reported a group of men showed up to a pro-Palestine gathering and yelled the students were “terrorists” and “rapists.” IUPD and BPD also received two complaints concerning women wearing hijabs, with one student waiting at a bus stop reporting “a truck pulled up and threatened to tear off her hijab,” and another reporting a car accelerated at two women crossing the street off-campus, one of whom was wearing a hijab.
According to the review, a group of Jewish students leaving Chabad House in the late evening on April 27 were “followed home by an unknown man” who “appeared to come from the encampment.” The man reportedly “screamed at them, threatened to break down their windows, used hom*ophobic slurs, and threw items that were on the home’s porch towards the house.” The students called the police, but police were unable to identify or apprehend anyone.
Cooley report recommends increasing IUPD funding, training with ISP
The review recommends IU increase funding to IUPD, noting staffing was “critically low,” especially in key leadership positions.
“Not only does this severely hinder IUPD’s ability to keep IU’s campuses safe and secure, but it also hampers a wide variety of other university functions,” the review says.
The review recommends providing IUPD officers with training from ISP on “mobile field force, effectuating a large volume of arrests, the utilization of de-escalation techniques, and more.” It also recommends creating “a dedicated Security Operations Center” with centralized access to IU’s closed-circuit television and other electronic security devices and creating encrypted radio communication channels with law enforcement partners.
Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@heraldt.com. Follow him on Twitter/X at @brianwritesnews.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU independent review of Dunn Meadow actions says ISP 'safest' option
