Saturday, November 5, 2022: Stanford Restricted Student Speech at Football Game

For immediate release:

On Saturday November 5, Stanford Students were restricted from entering the football game with signs and banners saying Stanford Hates Fun, regardless of size and format. This was enforced by armed police stationed exclusively at the student entrance. The number of armed police and unarmed campus security was significantly higher than usual games, especially considering the low expected and actual turnout. Security also made the bizarre request of asking students to partially remove their shirts to confirm that they weren't carrying any signage under their shirts, most of whom had no signage or awareness.

Stanford Stadium has posted a list of prohibited items online and at the entrance, and the list does not include signage. At last week's game, stadium staff handed out signs to spectators. When we asked why they were prohibiting signs, we received different answers from different staff. We therefore have reason to believe that these signs were prohibited specifically because of their content. If it is the case that signs were prohibited based on content, we believe that to be a violation of Stanford’s free speech responsibilities under California’s Leonard Law, and we plan on following up through the appropriate legal channels. This censorship follows the university sanctioning The Tree for his speech during last week's game (ESPN, Stanford Daily), and regardless of the legal dispute, we hold that censorship of student speech runs counter to Stanford's history and goals.

Stanford Hates Fun will not be deterred by censorship. Hundreds of fans made a strong show of support at the game with Stanford Hates Fun t-shirts, and one banner that was brought in through a non-student entrance (who apparently were not briefed on the planned censorship). Security and Stanford administrators attempted to remove the banner but were deterred by the crowd's support. The replacement mascot installed by the administration wore a shirt that says "Stanford Hates Fun," many band members chose to boycott the band, and the few band members who did play protested with the slogan emblazoned on t-shirts and their instruments.

Contact: StanfordHatesFun@gmail.com