A student-led mental health demonstration originally intended to be held on Dec. 5 was canceled after controversy over a possible violation of University policy. It has since been rescheduled by Students for Mental Health Reform for Wednesday at noon. 

The demonstration has been organized as a final project for the class CMN 250: Social Movement Communication. For this project, students were required to organize a protest on a topic meaningful to them. 

The organization Students for Mental Health Reform UIUC formed in the class and encouraged students on campus to participate in this demonstration through posts on social media sites, which attracted significant attention and support.

The students plan to meet at Alma Mater around noon Wednesday to begin the protest. On Dec. 4, CMN 250 professor Billy Huff received an email from the Vice Chancellor of Student Support and Advocacy that stated the possible violation, according to Amrita Bhattacharyya. Because of this, Huff thought it best to cancel the original protest and discuss it with University officials. 

“This email suggested that we may be violating University policy by failing to discuss this demonstration with University officials beforehand. The discussion would have been centered around appropriate policies regarding our demonstration,” Bhattacharyya said in an email. 

According to the new event’s Facebook page, the organization is “continuing the fight and reorganizing another mental health reform demonstration.”

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