Free speech rally planned outside BU president’s office amid Pride flag dispute

Local News

The protest is set to take place Thursday following the removal of Pride flags under a university signage policy.

The notice that Boston University professor Nathan Phillips received about his pride flag. Courtesy of Nathan Phillips

A free speech rally is set for noon Thursday outside Boston University President Melissa Gilliam’s office at 1 Silber Way after administrators removed Pride flags from three campus locations earlier this month.

The rally is organized by Terrier Courage, a coalition of faculty, students, alumni, and staff that has collected more than 1,800 signatures urging the university to reconsider its sign removal policy, according to a statement from founder Jen Snyder-Cappione.

BU’s Events and Demonstrations Policy restricts signage in outward-facing windows.

During the rally, organizers plan to deliver a petition addressed to Gilliam and the university’s board of trustees.

The petition — which has collected roughly 90% of its 2,000-signature goal — calls for a revised policy allowing signage on doors, windows, and walls in individual offices, dorm rooms, and private workspaces, regardless of whether it is visible from outside.

“Boston University is better than this. We were founded by abolitionists, admitted women from day one, and have long prided ourselves as being a place where debate and expression flourish,” the petition states. “It’s time that the university administration stays true to our values and immediately revises its policy.”

Writers of the petition emphasized that the removal of Pride flags is “not a minor issue.”

“When a university that claims to support free speech starts policing what faculty, students, and staff can express in their own spaces, it undermines the open exchange of ideas it says it values,” the petition reads. “Censoring these expressions sets a dangerous precedent for the entire campus community.”

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