URBANA, Ill.
Claiming their rights to support political candidates are under assault, some University of Illinois faculty and students held a rally for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama on campus to make their stand clear.
The rally Thursday was staged after an official school statement informing the community that a state ethics law bars state workers from political activities on university property.
“They’re trying to control our bodies and our voices any time we’re on campus,” said graduate student Dan Colson. “These policies are clearly a violation of our First Amendment rights.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois sent a letter Thursday to university president B. Joseph White, asking him to clarify the statement. The ACLU’s letter called for White to inform staff, students workers and graduate students that they can attend campaign rallies, wear political buttons and put partisan bumper stickers on their cars.
“Surely the university does not feel a need to stifle political expression that does not disrupt the workplace or the classroom,” said ACLU of Illinois Legal Director Harvey Grossman in a statement.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office said that state ethics law governs that state employees cannot do political work on state time using state resources but that law does not apply to students.
