District Reference:

*AD,CHA,GFA

No.VIII - J

For the purpose of these procedures, demonstrations shall be defined as unauthorized activity which interrupts the scheduled activities or processes of education on the Brookhaven College campus.

Students have the right of free expression and advocacy; however, the time, place and manner of exercising these rights shall be regulated by the Executive Vice President of Instruction and Student Services in compliance with the Texas Education Code. Therefore, all student initiated meetings must be registered with the Student Services Office.

The following conditions shall normally be sufficient to classify behavior as disruptive:

1.      Blocking or in any other way interfering with access to any facility of the college.

2.      Inciting others to violence and/or participating in violent behavior, e.g. assault, loud or vulgar language spoken publicly, or any form of behavior acted out for the purpose of inciting and/or influencing others.

3.      Holding rallies, demonstrations or any other form of public gathering without prior approval of the College.

4.      Conducting any activity which causes College officials to be drawn off their scheduled duties to intervene, supervise or observe the activity in the interest of maintaining order at the College.

College Police Officers who receive reports of or observe unauthorized demonstrations and/or disruptive activities will follow the procedures outlined below:

1.      Record the situation on an Incident Report. If the situation involves a group of persons, the following information is included: time observed, location of gathering, approximate number of persons assembled, type of activity engaged in, and nature or purpose of the assembly.

2.      Officers should refrain from confrontation and confine their actions to observation, unless there is imminent danger of injury/death or destruction of college property which will entail intervention to prevent those acts from continuing.

3.      The Director of Police will be advised/notified and, when evaluation of the situation and information has been gathered, notify the Executive Vice President of Instruction and Student Services, who will be responsible for the following:

A.     Notification of the college president and vice presidents;

B.      Notification of other administrative officials;

C.     Notification of public information officer;

D.     Render decision as to appropriate enforcement action to be taken:

(1)     Containment;

(2)     Negotiation;

(3)     Other action as appropriate.

In the absence of the Executive Vice President of Instruction and Student Services, the officer will notify the Vice President of Business Services and, if absent, the Vice President of Instructional Administration, who shall assume the responsibilities outlined above. The Vice President of Resource and Economic Development and the Associate Vice President for Student Development are the successor administrators, respectively, in the absence of the Vice President of Instructional Administration.

4.      The officer on duty will notify the Director of College Police or, if absent, the supervisor in charge to advise of the situation and status of circumstances.

5.      The officer will resume observation activities when there are no criminal or safety violations and be guided by instructions from the Executive Vice President of Instruction and Student Services or the appropriate administrator.

Unauthorized Demonstrations/ Disruptive Activity

Police Response To Unauthorized Activity

Police Response To Unauthorized Activity con’t