No School On ICE Days?
Benjamin Marcus
Brown University’s own policies are unambiguous: faculty members may not cancel class in order to facilitate student participation in protests, demonstrations, walkouts, or other forms of non-curricular political activism. That prohibition is spelled out clearly on the Office of the Provost’s website and codified in the Faculty Rules and Regulations. Yet, students across campus say that, in connection with today’s planned campus walkout protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), those rules are being ignored, raising serious questions about academic integrity and whether students are receiving the education they are paying so much for.
According to official guidance issued by the University, while faculty enjoy broad academic freedom, the exercise of that freedom “should not interfere with the normal functions of the University,” with classroom instruction explicitly identified as one of those functions. The policy states that it is “inappropriate to cancel class in direct or indirect support of a demonstration, rally, walkout, or activity of non-curricular advocacy or activism.” The language is direct, leaving no room for alternative interpretation.
Professors have a professional obligation to hold scheduled class meetings. When a class must be missed due to illness, professional travel, or religious observance, the expectation is that the class will be rescheduled or that an appropriate substitute will be arranged. Political demonstrations are notably absent from the list of acceptable reasons to cancel instruction.
The rationale for these restrictions is clearly spelled out. While students retain the right to protest or walk out of class, the University acknowledges that canceling class to accommodate such activity infringes on the rights of students who do not wish to participate, in alignment with the University’s Academic Freedom policies. In other words, institutional support for activism through canceled instruction comes at the direct expense of students who simply want to attend class.
Several students reported to the Spectator that classes were canceled or substantively altered in advance of and in anticipation of today’s major campus demonstration, effectively eliminating instruction they had paid for. In the case of the ICE walkout, promotional materials circulated bearing the slogan “no school, no work, no shopping,” an explicit call for academic disruption rather than protest alongside instruction.
Notably, the protest itself was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., yet students reported that classes throughout the day, including those scheduled hours before the demonstration was set to begin, had also been canceled. At a university where tuition, fees, room, and board now roughly equal $100,000 per year, the absence of scheduled classes carries real financial weight. When an entire day of instruction is canceled in anticipation of a protest whose slogan calls for “no school,” students are left paying full price for no instruction at all. When classes are canceled without rescheduling or replaced with asynchronous videos or materials readily available on YouTube, students are left paying full tuition for a lower-quality educational experience.
Brown has long affirmed students’ right to demonstrate and engage in political expression. The issue is, in the second week of the semester, students who were planning on attending class today – whether because they oppose the protest, support it but still value instruction, or simply want the education they are paying for – no longer have that ability.
“I came to Brown for an elite education, not to have my classes canceled in support of a political agenda,” one student told the Spectator, requesting anonymity due to fear of academic repercussions.
Brown’s policies already articulate a careful balance between free expression and academic responsibility. They protect students’ right to protest while drawing a firm line against institutional endorsement through canceled or altered instruction. When classes are canceled before a protest has even begun, that line is explicitly crossed. When that happens, it is a procedural violation that garners a University response and is a breach of trust between the University and its students.
As the protest is currently in progress, but classes have already been canceled, Brown faces an easy question. Will the University uphold its written standards governing academic responsibility, or will it refund students and their families for the canceled academic instruction in the name of political activity?