When Jim Roberts and Darcy Accardi visited the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ meeting for the American Democracy Project in 2008, they were struck by a presentation by Indiana University-Purdue University Annapolis about its “Democracy Plaza.”
Democracy Plaza, according to IUPUI’s Web site, is a place where students can “express, speak, and hear diverging thoughts surrounding social, political, economic, and religious issues relevant to the campus, city, state, country, and world.” Roberts, the chairperson of the Political Science Department at Towson University, and Accardi, the special assistant to the vice president for civic engagement at Towson University, were impressed.
“Essentially they established a space for free speech, where people could express things on permanently placed blackboards and where they would have outdoor programming,” Roberts said.
Just as Roberts, Accardi and SGA senator Lauren McDade were set to see how this idea could be integrated into Towson’s campus, particularly as a change of pace for the Speaker’s Circle, they discovered that the large plaza-like area between Hawkins Hall, the Lecture Hall and the Psychology Building was to undergo renovation.
Now that area is part of the official plan to bring to Towson a place where students can hold a mutual exchange of ideas and exercise free speech in the middle of campus. The Political Engagement Subcommittee is holding a contest to re-name the area for when it is fully re-done, with submissions coming exclusively from students.
McDade, who sits on the Political Engagement Subcommittee, said that she has already received several submissions for re-naming the area, which will likely be presented under its new title in the fall after a re-design that will be completed by the end of the summer.
“On the Political Engagement Subcommittee, we were trying to push for the idea,” McDade said, “and we found out just in the nick of time to get in on the ground work on the plans.”
Roberts said he spoke with director of facilities planning Jack Nye about the possibility of targeting the area for a purpose similar to that of “Democracy Plaza,” and the process was smooth.
“They wanted a theme for their re-design,” Roberts said. “Jack and Darcy and I sat down and we talked. They came up with a design, we gave them input for that design and it looks like it’s going forward.”
Once the plaza is up, the Political Engagement Subcommittee hopes it will provide a new sense of freedom of expression for students. For a university that has battled some free speech issues in recent years, the change in attitude would be a welcome one. Vice president of student affairs Deb Moriarty said the plaza is more than just about free speech. It also has to do with making sure students are connected to the world through political action and expression.
“It’s about helping students find opportunities on campus to become more civically connected,” Moriarty said. “It’s really an opportunity for students to explore their political interest, their concern for the environment or their passion for social justice.”
Moriarty said students need a place like this where they can engage in their community at Towson so they can go forth from Towson in a similar way.
“It’s one piece of the much bigger picture of the way that we define civic engagement,” Moriarty said. “If every student graduated from Towson thinking was there really a strong commitment at the University toward civic engagement, then this is just another way to do that, and to help students think beyond themselves and to think more about what their influence on the world.”
Roberts said he hopes that this plaza can take some of the positives from Democracy Plaza at IUPUI and implement them at Towson, with some improvements and changes specific to the local student body. Part of the plan for Towson’s version of the plaza includes blackboards or whiteboards where students can independently write up a “question of the day.” In addition, the Political Engagement Subcommittee is looking for most of the programming to be student-generated and non-discriminatory.
“If anyone wants to use it, they can use it,” McDade said. “If anyone wants to have a protest or a rally, they can do that. If people want to go ahead and reserve it, for instance when Towson Pro-Life brought the Genocide Awareness Project or when the Progressive Democrats of Towson wanted to hold some sort of rally thing and they just wanted to make sure it was their space for a specific time and a specific date, then something like reservations… would have precedent over anybody else. But the idea is to make it open to everybody.”
Towson’s campus does already have a small area designated in part for free expression: the Speaker’s Circle. However, that area is more restricted than the plaza is planned to be. McDade said the key differences lie in its purpose.
“The speaker’s circle is designed structurally in such a way that one person can have their ideas projected to a larger audience,” McDade said. “It’s very focused on one-way communication, and it’s good for things like when Rep. Sarbanes came to campus. That sort of setting was really good for that. With the plaza, however, it’s designed literally for an even exchange, and it’s literally putting the people in charge on an even playing field with the other participants. It’s designed for more direct feedback.”
“I think anything the university can do to show that it’s still committed to being able to foster free discussion and expression,” McDade said. “Of course, as with anything, with any institution, you’re bound to have trip-ups sometimes.”
The trip-ups to which McDade refers are the time, place and manner restrictions soon to be in place by the University, which would still apply to the new plaza. Moriarty said she doesn’t think this will hinder the plaza and its ability to serve the student body.
“We’re in the process of creating the final draft of the time, place and manner policy, which doesn’t restrict what people can say, but provides some guidelines for when and how certain types of demonstrations and activities can happen,” Moriarty said. “I think that the concept is to provide an opportunity for a free exchange of ideas.”
With such restrictions on the plaza and the rest of campus, it may be easy for students to see the plaza as the one place where they can go for free speech, with limitations even on what they say and do there. However, Roberts said this may not be the case in the long run.
“I don’t think that it has to do that,” Roberts said. “Hopefully this becomes another venue for free speech, not just the venue for free speech.”
Roberts added that those concerned should keep in mind that there are still several possible ways the situation could play out, and that the Political Engagement Subcommittee plans on keeping a close eye on its development.
“We’re at the very beginning of a process,” Roberts said. “It’s still in the planning process. I can’t tell you exactly how it’s going to be. We’re still working on some of the organizational things.”
The Political Engagement Subcommittee will be reviewing name submissions for the plaza this weekend, and it plans on announcing three to five finalists that it will post on a poll online at Involved@TU. The final decision will be announced later in the week.
