The Office of the Dean of Students at the University has announced the development of a new support program, titled the I-Team, that will be tasked with supporting First Amendment rights at on-campus events.
In a role description, the University announced that the new I-team will consist of 25 full-time interested staff members to participate in the program during the coming year.
“The University of Illinois I-Team is a group of diverse staff members who help ensure expression of First Amendment rights at events on campus within the parameters of the Expressive Activity on Campus Policy,” the Office of the Dean of Students announced in the description.
The Campus Administrative Manual specifies that University community members and visitors are free to engage in what they call “Expressive Activities.” These activities are those that involve speech, assembly, demonstrations and other various activities covered under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The University also noted in the manual that the policy will not be enforced in a discriminatory manner towards any people or groups. A comprehensive list of protected classifications can be found in the University’s Nondiscrimination Policy.
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The I-Team is tasked with supporting First Amendment expressions within the scope of this Campus Administrative Manual, which instructs on what kinds of expressive activities are permitted on campus.
“Members of the I-Team will be trained in de-escalation techniques and will utilize their professional backgrounds and experiences in their engagement with students and others in the community,” the role description said.
CORRECTION August 20, 2024, at 5:15 p.m.: A previous version of this article inaccurately described the I-Team role description as a press release and limited the group’s members to only University faculty. As no official press release was sent, and the group is comprised of various staff, we have updated the article to reflect this correction. Additionally, the previous version of this article used quotes sent in the body of the email; these are now corrected and come from the official role description of the I-Team.
