Free Speech Victory at CSUF

Free Speech Victory at CSUF
By Mike Rhodes

California State University - Fresno (CSUF) president John Welty has issued a memorandum prohibiting undercover "surveillance activities" by campus police officers. The statement was viewed as a significant victory by student activists on the campus who have been concerned about civil liberties violations and the erosion of academic freedom. Ruth Obel-Jorgensen, president of the Campus Peace and Civil Liberties Coalition said "we appreciate that President Welty has taken this important first step."

Dr. Welty’s statement was issued following revelations that six undercover law enforcement officers attended a lecture sponsored by the Campus Peace and Civil Liberties Coalition. After learning of the undercover infiltration of their group, Obel-Jorgensen and at least 12 other students held a 48 hour fast to bring attention to the issue. Saying they were hungry for civil liberties, fasting students set up a tent city outside of the Thomas Administration building, where Dr. Welty has his office.

The students took this dramatic action because they were outraged that undercover law enforcement officers attended a lecture on veganism, by nationally renown animal rights activist Gary Yourofsky. With about 60 people attending the lecture, undercover police made up 10% of the audience. Media spokesperson for the student group, Nick DeGraff explained that one of their main concerns was "the chilling effect this surveillance would have on our civil liberties." In addition, DeGraff said that the students felt they were being lied to by the administration. Official statements from the universities public relations department, statements made by the campus police chief, and numerous emails from CSUF president John Welty seem to confirm the students concerns.

At first, university officials were in denial that any undercover law enforcement officers were present at the Yourofsky lecture. After the students held a press conference on April 6, 2005 in front of Dr. Welty’s office, exposing what they knew about the infiltration, the students got the first official statement from the university on the incident. On April 18 Dr. Welty issued a statement saying that the university had two uniformed officers at the event, but insisted they were not undercover and that they were there for security only.

On April 21, Dr. Welty sent an email to the Community Alliance newspaper updating the statement sent on April 18 saying that "at a campus club event on Nov. 10, 2004, the University Police Department assigned three plainclothes police officers for event security." Not only did Dr. Welty confirm that they had three undercover officers attending the lecture of a campus group, but he went on to reveal that there were three additional undercover law enforcement officers from the Fresno County Sheriff’s department at the event. He said "The campus police chief has indicated that it was his understanding that three officers from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department were present at the public meeting. The Sheriff’s office has not provided
information to the university about their activities."

At a rally in front of the CSUF police department, campus activists continued to press for the truth. This time they were told that in addition to the three campus undercover officers at the Yourofsky lecture, there were three undercover agents from the state anti-terrorism task force. This information was quickly contradicted by another statement from Dr. Welty saying "The campus police chief initially reported that there were three officers from a state anti-terrorism group at the event and that was provided to the reporter. Immediately following that report the chief was informed that the state law enforcement officers did not attend the event, but rather that three Fresno County Sheriff's officers (in plainclothes) were present in the public event."

In a press statement issued by the university on April 27, during the student 48 hour fast, the campus administration dropped all mention of the three undercover Sheriff’s officers. They also refused to release the operations plan that the campus police had written for the Yourofsky event. The Campus Peace and Civil Liberties Coalition and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC) responded to the barrage of misleading and misinformation coming from the university with Freedom of Information Act and Public Records Act requests.

On May 6, the Fresno County Counsel’s Office responded, saying "at the request of the Fresno State Chief of Police, the Sheriff’s Department did have undercover officers present at the November 10, 2004 appearance on campus by Gary Yourofsky."

Ruth Obel-Jorgensen remembers a meeting she had with CSUF police chief David Huerta where he "looked me straight in the eye, reiterating that he was an honest man and a man of integrity. He urged me to trust him and assured me that I would see that he was a man of his word. He stated specifically that there were not undercover campus officers at the event and that he would not send undercover campus officers because he felt it was a covert action. Chief Huerta stated that one of his goals was to reach out to the student body to form a trusting relationship."

While the students view Dr. Welty’s statements prohibiting undercover "surveillance activities" by campus police officers as a victory, their optimism is tempered by the new information received from the Fresno County Counsel. The revelation that the Campus Police Chief invited Fresno County Sheriff’s deputies to monitor the November 10 event is in contradiction to university officials’ previous denial of knowledge of the actions of the Sheriff’s Department at the lecture.

In response to this conflicting information, the ACLU-NC and the Campus Peace and Civil Liberties Coalition have sent a letter to President Welty urging full and accurate disclosure of all information related to the use of undercover officers at the campus lecture, including the police department’s "operations plan" and a chronology of police and university activities surrounding the lecture.

"While President Welty has taken an important step by announcing a policy change, the only way to ensure that this policy is followed and move forward from this event in a positive and constructive manner is through full disclosure," said Mark Schlosberg, ACLU-NC Police Practices Policy Director. "Students, faculty, and the broader campus community deserve to know why undercover police monitored a peaceful student-sponsored campus lecture."

The California Attorney General’s office is currently investigating the Fresno County Sheriff's Department regarding the six-month infiltration of Peace Fresno – another Fresno community group – by a member of the Department’s anti-terrorism unit. In September 2003, the California Attorney General issued guidelines cautioning law enforcement agencies monitoring individuals or organizations engaged in first amendment protected activity is a violation of California’s strong constitutional right to privacy.

The perseverance of the student activists and the ACLU-NC is starting to pay off and the truth is starting to come out. One victory has been achieved - the university has been forced to publically change its policy on infiltrating campus groups. Obel-Jorgensen said that "while we celebrate that victory we are still trying to find out what files the campus police department has on students." Dr. Welty denies that the police have any files on campus activists. Obel-Jorgensen says that if that is true, then why are they refusing to release the campus police departments operation plan for the Yourofsky incident?