Civil Disturbance
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Document Number: EMER--114p
Revision #: 3.0
Document Owner: Vice President for Facilities and Infrastructure
Date Last Updated: 11/21/2025
Primary Author: Vice President for Facilities and Infrastructure
Status: Approved
Date Originally Created: 02/13/2012
Revised: 01/02/2018
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General Description
Description / Scope: Information about civil disturbances relative to emergency services policies and procedures.
Purpose: Delineation of procedures.
Who Performs / Responsibility: All faculty, staff, students, and administrators
When to Perform: As needed
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Before performing this task you must know:
Current University policy
Standards of good practice
Terms and Definitions: Additional training
Corrective Action
Equipment: Policy and Procedure Handbook
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Detailed Steps
1. Civil Disturbance
How to Do:
Most campus civil disturbances such as marches, meetings, picketing and rallies will be peaceful and non-obstructive. A student disturbance should not be disrupted unless one or more of the following conditions exists as a result of the action:
1. INTERFERENCE with the normal operations of the university.
2. PREVENTION of access to office buildings or other university facilities.
3. THREAT of physical harm to persons or damage to university facilities or other property.
If any of these conditions exist, any faculty or staff member should contact the Vice President for Facilities and Infrastructure. Depending on the nature of the disturbance, the appropriate procedures listed below should be followed:
1.1 Peaceful, Non-Obstructive Disturbances
How to Do:
1. Generally, events of this kind should not be interrupted. Participants should not be obstructed or provoked and efforts should be made to conduct university business as normally as possible.
2. If participants are asked to leave, but refuse to leave by regular facility closing time:
a. Arrangements will be made by the Vice President for Facilities and Infrastructure or designee to monitor the situation during non-business hours.
b. Determination will be made to treat the violation of regular closing hours as a disruptive event. (See Section 2).
1.2 Non-Violent, Disruptive Disturbances
How to Do:
In the event that a disturbance blocks access to university facilities or interferes with the operation of the university:
1. Participants will be asked to terminate the disruptive activity by the Vice President for Facilities and Infrastructure or designee.
2. If the participants persist in the disruptive activity, they will be advised that failure to discontinue the specified action within a determined length of time may result in disciplinary action including suspension or expulsion or possible intervention by the police. Except in extreme emergencies, the President will be consulted before such disciplinary actions are taken.
3. Efforts should be made to secure positive identifications of participants in violation to facilitate later testimony, including photographs if deemed advisable.
4. After consultation with the President, the Vice President for Facilities and Infrastructure will determine the need for an injunction and intervention of the police.
5. If determination is made to seek the intervention of the police, the participants should be informed of this decision.
1.3 Violent, Disruptive Disturbances
How to Do:
In the event that a violent disturbance in which injury to persons or property occurs or appears eminent, call 911. Then contact Campus Security and the Vice President for Facilities and Infrastructure. If the Vice President for Facilities and Infrastructure is unavailable, contact the University Provost.
If the isturbance is disruptive but it appears that there is no immediate risk of injury to persons or property, the following steps should be taken:
1. Campus Security should be immediately notified of the disturbance.
2. Campus Security will investigate the disruption.
3. The President and the Vice President for Facilities and Infrastructure, acting in concert with Campus Security, will determine the need for an injunction and the need for police intervention.
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Subject Experts
The following may be consulted for additional information.
Vice President for Facilities and Infrastructure
General Counsel