In 1517, per the Library of Congress, German priest Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of his Wittenberg church, publicly challenging many Catholic practices and setting off the Protestant Reformation. Yet at Vassar, where we supposedly value freedom of expression much more than the 16th-century Catholic church, we are not allowed to post political statements on the doors of Gordon Commons or anywhere else on campus. Through changes to the posting policy and seemingly greater limiting of postings, the administration has attempted to depoliticize the physical environment of the campus. This politically motivated restriction of speech weakens our community, fragmenting our social scene and taking away what was once an important place for both political and non-political discourse.
While posting on the doors of Gordon Commons, Vassar’s only dining hall, has theoretically always been forbidden, the administration’s tone about this harmless form of expression has grown notably harsher in the past few years. This summer, in response to last year’s campus protests regarding the pay equity lawsuit against Vassar and the conflict in Gaza, the administration subtly added language to the posting policy that “Postings solely made to promote an opinion or point of view will not be stamped or will be removed.” This fits in with the trend of this administration, which says: Do whatever you want, as long as we approve it first.
But this suppression affects more than just campus politics. When I was a freshman, the doors of Gordon Commons doors were always covered in posters for student activities—dance performances, comedy shows, and people looking for bandmates—it was a site of connection. I thought I was dreaming when I stumbled into the dining hall on a cold gray morning two years ago and saw a sign on the door with a QR code and the text “Is your name Sam?” Since mine is, I scanned it and later went to a meeting of other people named Sam on campus, where we talked about what it was like to be a Sam. It was a funny moment with people I had never met before, one of those great Vassar experiences.
Now, the Gordon Commons doors are usually blank. Though our student culture is still vibrant, what was once the main way to know what was happening around campus has largely disappeared. This contributes to the social scene’s fragmentation, making it harder to get the word out when one has something to promote, and thus more important to already be in the know about events. While students can still put up posters on the dim and awkwardly placed cork boards inside the dining hall, my guess is that far fewer people see these. If the administration allows students to put up posters at all, why not let us do it in the most prominent space?
This is all an effect of the administration’s restriction of political speech, which damages our ability to address disagreements. Since taping up signs is not vandalism, placing political messages on the doors of the dining hall, so long as they are not hateful, might be a meaningful way of engaging with one another. Some people may want a campus political environment where they do not have to confront the fact that people near them have different opinions than they do. There is comfort in thinking of Vassar as a bubble when you are inside it, as you imagine that your views must neatly align with everyone else’s. But unanimity goes against what the college professes to stand for. Signs on the library tables read, “In diversity there is beauty and strength,” but how are we supposed to believe the administration means this when they have limited our ability to express political (and nonpolitical) speech on campus’s most visible surface? Rather than allow the flourishing of a diversity of opinion, the administration prefers the look of clean, off-white paint.
So this is my thought: In an effort to build understanding and a stronger campus community, as well as allow for a fuller expression of our views, the administration should permit students to put posters on the Gordon Commons doors, even if they only express an opinion. Of course, this has the possibility of inciting conflict. On the other hand, disagreements do exist, and it seems at least more honest to put these out in the open. If there is a lesson to be learned from the past year of student protest, it is that suppressing the avenues of student expression does not stop protests—it incites them. The Vassar administration knows this well because it has been more tolerant than other schools. For instance, Vassar chose not to call the police on the encampment, an approach that engaged with student protests without stifling them. Still, their relative liberality does not excuse their continued attempt to de-politicize campus, which comes at the cost not just of student politics but ultimately hurts the whole community. This loss of a central campus forum goes against the 2020 Statement on Academic Responsibility and Respect for Persons, which concludes that, “Only a community that honors freedom of expression, different points of view, and mutual interdependence can serve the objectives of a liberal arts education and the needs of the complex, pluralistic society of which Vassar is a part.” It is time for the administration to live up to these words.