THE ISSUE:

Some Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute students are facing discipline after a protest.

THE STAKES:

The students' right of free expression should be held sacred at any collegecampus.

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Colleges have long been a place where differing ideas may be thoughtfully debated and where students should feel comfortable expressing their viewpoints, including through peaceful protest.

At the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, though, that doesn't seem to be the case. Some RPI students who participated in a nonviolent protest Oct. 13 now face disciplinary action, stifling the very free speech that this institution of higher education professes to support.

The protest, at the start of a black-tie kickoff for a major capital campaign, was over a dispute between students and the administration on control of the RPI Student Union, an organization that the students operated independently for decades.

Observers of the protest described it as a perfectly peaceful event. Confusion emanates from a temporary fence that was erected by the administration, presumably to keep the protesters far from the entrance to the gala. Students said that was not made clear, and they moved closer to let the attendees hear their position.

Since then, using videos it took of the protest, the administration has initiated disciplinary proceedings against at least two students and has contacted others who participated. That's a pretty heavy-handed tactic, even without the Big Brother implications of using video surveillance meant to ensure campus safety to hunt down peaceful protesters.

It's not the first time RPI has tried to limit the impact of student protesters. In 2009, when students rallied over what they saw as the school administration's lack of transparency, an RPI official asked a Times Union reporter to leave the campus. It should be noted the school never objects to coverage of sporting events and many other campus activities. On that occasion, students were criticizing RPI leaders for various actions, including removing student representation on the board of trustees and the layoffs of some employees.

Much of the friction between students and the administration seems to stem from finances. In recent years, RPI has launched and completed major building programs, but the school's debt, which exceeded $800 million in 2013, raised concern among rating agencies. In 2014, both Moody's and Standard & Poor's issued negative outlooks for the school's finances.

We get that the administration doesn't like dissent, especially when potential big donors are present. But isn't free expression, when conducted respectfully and peacefully as it was Oct. 15, something a college should protect and cherish?

Unlike a public university or college, RPI is private and has a freer hand when it comes to free speech. Yet its Rensselaer Handbook of Student Rights and Responsibilities asserts the college does not "impede or obstruct students in the exercise of their fundamental rights as citizens."

That statement means nothing if the only speech allowed is what RPI's leaders and donors prefer to hear.