St. John’s University: Demonstration Policy Requires Advance Notice for All Expressive Demonstrations

In March 2026, FIRE became aware of St. John’s University’s Demonstration Policy that requires community members seeking to hold any “demonstration” to submit a registration form to the dean of students no fewer than three business days prior to the event. FIRE wrote St. John’s on April 6, explaining that because this policy makes no exception for small, spontaneous, or otherwise nondisruptive demonstrations, it can easily act as a disproportionate “prior restraint” on campus speech — the most egregious form of censorship. We urged St John’s to revise its policy to remove the pre-approval requirement for these types of demonstrations.