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Told a student group they couldn't table in the student union, still feels wrong a year later

Last fall I was working security at a mid-sized state school in Ohio. The administration told us to remove a group tabling about fossil fuel divestment because they didn't have a permit. I had to tell about 10 students to pack up and leave the area near the cafeteria. They weren't being loud or blocking anything, just had a few signs and a petition. Found out later the group had applied for a permit but it got lost in the system somewhere. Has anyone else been put in a position where you had to enforce rules that seemed to shut down perfectly reasonable speech?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy_wilson86d ago

Wait, the permit got lost in the system somewhere? That is crazy, it basically means the students did everything right and still got shut down for no good reason. Situations like that just make everyone involved feel bad, and it's hard to tell who's even at fault. I can totally see why that moment would stick with you a whole year later.

jordancoleman6d ago

Dude @troy_wilson8 you nailed it. It was such a gut punch seeing them do all the work then get shut down over a clerical error. I had a similar thing happen with a food truck permit when I tried to start one in college. We waited months, followed every rule, paid our fees, then the city said they couldn't find our application in their system. By the time they sorted it out, the season was over and we lost all our money on supplies. It's wild how a small mistake like that can mess up so many people's plans. Makes you feel like the system is just set up to fail sometimes.