Bowdoin Revises Protest Policies After Student and Faculty Pushback

Roughly 80 Bowdoin College students set up an encampment at Smith Union Hall in Brunswick on Feb. 20, 2026, prompting the college to revise four campus policies and to begin disciplinary proceedings that students say resulted in eight suspensions. College spokesperson Doug Cook said via email that “the demonstration repeatedly violated policies within Bowdoin’s Code of Community Standards and the participating students have entered the college’s disciplinary process.” Student organizers, including 22-year-old Olivia Kenney of Students for Justice in Palestine, say the college “took student ID numbers and threaten[ed] discipline,” and that organizers were demanding Bowdoin condemn Israeli military operations in Gaza and “consider divesting itself from any company or organization that may be connected to what she called genocide going on in Gaza right now.”

College communications and internal policy excerpts show four documents were updated or introduced: the Use of College Property Policy, the Postering Policy, a new Freedom of Expression and On-Campus Protests and Demonstrations Policy, and a Registered Faculty and Staff Groups Policy. The college’s policy language frames the changes as balancing rights and safety: “Bowdoin College strongly supports and facilitates freedom of speech, academic freedom, the exchange of ideas and different points of view, and the right to protest and demonstrate for students, faculty, and staff. These freedoms must be balanced against the need to protect the physical safety of others and the rights of other members of the Bowdoin community to access the campus.”

The new Freedom of Expression and On-Campus Protests and Demonstrations Policy lays out specific limits. It directs that protests must not violate federal, state, or local laws; may not block access to or exit from venues; and “may not include harassment, intimidation, or silencing by use of loudspeakers or other methods or physical contact with others, including counterdemonstrators, an audience, a speaker, college officials, or a specific individual.” The policy further defines intimidation as “behavior that involves a threat or act of violence meant to deter or coerce others,” and requires participants to heed college and Brunswick noise rules.

One contested element applies to faculty and staff: under the Registered Faculty and Staff Groups Policy, employees who want to hang posters, host events in college spaces, or use Bowdoin in social media handles must register through Human Resources, and students are barred from membership in those registered faculty and staff groups. Supporters of limits on postering cite practical concerns; Purinton noted, “We don’t have unlimited wall space in high-trafficked areas,” adding that past monopolizing of poster space “did not leave room for a lot of other specific organizations.” Critics warn of broader chill: the Bowdoin Orient editorial board wrote that “the College cannot preach a commitment to the ‘free exchange of ideas’ while limiting avenues to do so,” and Packard argued the policies “extend administrators even more power to silence student expression.”

College materials state the policy work was “informed by the work of a committee of faculty, staff and students,” and Hoppe wrote that “an important recommendation of the committee was to develop policies that are content neutral and applicable to a variety of situations and circumstances,” adding that “clear policies help our community members understand what is and is not permitted with respect to the use of Bowdoin College space and associated activities.” The committee also recommended training for group leaders, a short quiz on updated policies, a method for accountable faculty and staff group registration with at least two contacts, and a weekly Events Report for the Office of Safety and Security.

Key implementation questions remain unresolved on campus: whether the disciplinary actions reported by students are finalized, the precise effective date of the policy rollout, and operational details of the new Human Resources registration process for faculty and staff groups. Bowdoin says it is actively gathering feedback and working on “refinement” of the policies as those questions are addressed.