Members of the ISU chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union met with university officials Wednesday to discuss President Gregory Geoffroy’s proposed changes to free speech on campus.

“The current provisions on free speech are not very friendly,” said Herman Quirmbach, Iowa State ACLU advisor. “The new proposal is much more friendly. There’s a lot to like in the proposal and with a little more work it will be what we truly need. I’m pleased to see an initiative in this area.”

In the proposal, groups of 50 or less outdoors and 15 or less indoors that do not disrupt university activities, do not require prior consent to meet, but must post notice of meeting.

Quirmbach, associate professor of economics, said one restriction they do not agree with is that groups of 50 or more outdoors are not allowed to use amplification devices, but understand that it should not disrupt other activities.

“We don’t want classes to be disturbed and that’s part of what we talked about,” said Katie List, member of ACLU and sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communication. “The ACLU is really excited that the university is discussing this, but we hope they use more student input when considering further changes to the proposal.”

Cara Harris, ACLU president, said administrators are planning to meet with the Government of the Student Body and take public comments online.

“The entire meeting with [the univeristy officials] was very productive,” said Harris, sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communication. “Having them available to speak with about concerns regarding the proposal was very encouraging.”

The proposal also states these events can only occur weekdays between 11:50 a.m. and 1:10 p.m. and 4:10 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Quirmbach said the group suggested broadening this to include all daylight hours on weekdays and weekends.

“That’s a fairly narrow window,” Quirmbach said. “We suggested they broaden it, because that is a very significant restriction. The principle of free speech is to allow the speaker to chose the time – not the university.”

Another restriction discussed was when a public forum doesn’t meet the stated requirements, it must be approved through the Student Activities Center at least five days in advance.

“We can easily see circumstances where a public gathering is required or motivated, like after the Sept. 11 attacks,” Quirmbach said. “They can probably do whatever needs to be done in three days and not drag it out. We’re hoping they make improvement along those lines.”

If a proposal is not cleared, a statement with reasons for non-approval would be provided within two business days. Quirmbach said officials need to state more specific grounds for approval so an organization knows before they begin the proposal process.

“We didn’t go into that with [officials], but it is something that needs to be looked at,” Quirmbach said. “I give them a positive mark for explicitly stating why they will not be approved, but it’s also desirable to know beforehand the requirements.”