As the negotiations process continues, the uncertainty over due process is gaining traction.
On Saturday, Feb. 3, members of the Butler CC Education Association (BCCEA), stood outside the Power Plant during a basketball game against Coffeyville, handing out information and spreading the word on their campaign to include due process language in the employee contract.
“We’re really just asking for due process to be added to the agreement,” Nathan Swink, professor of Behavioral Sciences said. “It’s disturbing to see how dismissive the administration is of this idea.”
“It feels like I’m a new mother, and I’ve just found out there are no kidnapping laws in my state, so I go to the authorities and ask for a law making it illegal to steal my baby, but the authorities just point to my baby and say, ‘You have it. Your baby is right there, why do you need a law?’” Swink said, “And this feels like the basic argument we are getting from the administration. We have due process because of a state statute, but we feel that extra protection in our master agreement is necessary.”
Swink, along with Terry Sader and other members of the BCCEA, began a pressure campaign in early 2024, with the aim of encouraging administration to “negotiate fairly,” Swink said. The event outside the Power Plant was part of this campaign, as well as more recent student forums and protests.
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In addition to interacting directly with community members, fliers were placed on vehicles throughout the parking lot during the sporting event, in an effort to increase awareness, and encourage community involvement. However, these actions were found to be against regulations in the employee handbook.
“The zones are defined in College policy,” Vice-President of Student Services Bill Rinkenbaugh said. “Basically, there are two areas where individuals can gather to exercise their freedom of speech rights, one on each campus. On the Butler of El Dorado campus, the area is next to the flagpole in front of the 600 Building. In Andover, the area is just to the south of the main entrance to the Student Union. We do not have any permanent signs identifying this space. As defined in the policy, any individual or organization must notify my office no later than one week prior to their scheduled activity by submitting a written request.”
While free speech is a First Amendment right promised to all American citizens, on some college campuses, there are areas known as “free speech zones,” inside of which free speech can be practiced. Outside of these free speech zones, forms of protesting or displaying opinion can be minimized.
“The free speech zones are given to us as protection,” Swink said. “But in actual practice, it’s typically used to limit people’s expression.”
According to a study performed in 2018 by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), one in 10 public college institutions had free speech zones.
“Too often, colleges and universities maintain policies that limit student and faculty demonstrations and other expressive activities to small and/or out-of-the-way areas on campus — so-called “free speech zones,” FIRE said on their website. “The idea of a “free speech zone” might sound appealing in theory. But in practice, these zones function more like free speech quarantines, banishing student and faculty speakers to outposts that may be tiny, on the fringes of campus, or (frequently) both.”
On the Butler CC of El Dorado campus, the free speech zone is a small area east of the 600 building, and can be specifically identified by consulting the student or employee handbook. Other regulations for free speech events include signage, noise amplification and duration.
During the event at the Power Plant, BCCEA was found to be practicing free speech outside of the regulated free speech zones. Fliers were removed, and information distribution was stopped by members of administration, citing campus policy and informing the BCCEA they were in violation of this.
“The First Amendment policy is not designed to prohibit or stop individuals or groups from their freedom of speech rights,” Rinkenbaugh said. “It is, however, designed to ensure that individuals expressing their views and opinions do so in a manner that is not disruptive of the operation of any college class or activity. All individuals who desire to hand out materials or information are expected to abide by this same policy. For example, when representatives from the Gideons come onto campus at the beginning of the semester to pass out copies of “The Testament”, they must abide by this same policy. They cannot walk into the buildings to distribute the book or disrupt the operation of the College in any manner.”
Exercising their free speech is one of the main ways the BCCEA is spreading word and increasing community involvement in their due process campaign.
“The tricky part is, we can’t negotiate outside of negotiations,” Swink said. Instead, the BCCEA is reaching out to the community and students. “We hope [the administration] will care about the opinion of the community members.”
As negotiations continue, the BCCEA will continue to seek community support inside the regulations of the employee handbook, and free speech zones.