Response to inquiries about campus conditions in late April and early May of 2024

Purdue University did not “discover” free speech at the eleventh hour, and instead has long been consistently operating as a public institution of free speech, constitutionally protected with four well-recognized guardrails: 

  1. No physical violence or incitement to imminent violence.
  2. No silencing of others’ speech. 
  3. No illegal activities (e.g., vandalism; trespassing; intruding on private property or privacy; or threats, intimidation or harassment against individuals).
  4. For campus safety and for normal operation of university functions, ensure that expressive activities on campus space comply with time, place, manner (TPM) regulations in university policy. (These regulations at any university should be content-neutral, long-standing, consistently enforced, reasonable and not overly prohibitive. For example, Purdue’s reasonable TPM regulations did not change this year and are independent of the viewpoints expressed.)

Keeping protests peaceful (see Guardrail 1) is a necessary but not sufficient condition for free speech. 

When laws are broken by anyone (see Guardrail 3), law enforcement takes actions. 

When university rules (see Guardrail 4) are violated by students and employees of the university, university disciplinary actions typically start with warnings and could proceed to suspension, expulsion or termination, with multiple levels in between, through well-established procedures to ensure due process. 

For two student organizations’ activities that started on April 25, 2024, the students followed the university’s TPM regulations in some cases (e.g., Purdue’s regulation allows for tents during 7 a.m.-11 p.m., and during some of the nights the students folded their tents before 11 p.m.) while violating some basic TPM regulations repeatedly in other cases (e.g., using campus space not reserved and altering the space without approval, including the dangerous act of driving spikes into the ground with possible utility infrastructure underneath). University disciplinary actions were duly initiated, and each will receive due process before any sanction is determined according to the severity of policy violations, just as the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities does in all conduct cases. Purdue does not change policy or process based on viewpoints expressed, for treating one conduct violation favorably would be treating all conduct violations unfairly. 

We keep a clear distinction between our own students and people from outside. Over the past few days, these activities have attracted a typical group of 10-30 students and several employees, on an open campus with more than 60,000 students and employees. 

Statements News

Purdue University statement on The Exponent (Feb. 6, 2025)

February 6, 2025

Purdue University statement on campus voting locations (Sept. 27, 2024)

September 27, 2024

Purdue University, Tippecanoe County Board of Elections joint statement on campus voting locations (Sept. 18, 2024)

September 18, 2024

Purdue University statement on campus voting locations (Sept. 17, 2024)

September 17, 2024

All Statements News