Does anyone else think this is a bit ridiculous?

I am a student at a local college, where recently the administration of the school moved a bench where a lot of students congregate between classes, they replaced the bench with two plants, placed in the exact same spot and taking up the exact same area that the bench would.

Now moving a bench would seem like a pretty trivial thing to get all bent out of shape about, and it is. But that's not why I am writing this.

I am shocked with what the school did when I decided to bring a folding lawn chair to sit where that bench used to be.

I showed up in the morning, about an hour and a half before my classes started to hang out with friends and finish up some homework. I was sitting in my chair and security rolled by, I waved at them and they just moved on and kept patrolling.

But when I went to sit in my chair between my 2nd and 3rd class of the day, the same security guard who saw me in the morning came over and told me that I was "not allowed to sit there" and that I had to pack up my chair and put it in my car or he would write me up and the school would put me on academic probation... For sitting in a chair...

He said if I had any issues I could take them up with the Provost of the school. So I immediately went to the administrative offices to ask why I was not allowed to sit in a chair which I brought from home.

I was not allowed to speak to the Provost, but the Dean of Student Affairs tried telling me that by me bringing a chair from home I was somehow causing a "disruption". And that my bringing the chair constituted an "unauthorized use of school premises" because it was "equipment not provided by, or designated for use by the school".

I was also told if I wanted to bring my chair in the future I had to fill out a form and request the school grant me permission to do so.

The United States is supposed to be the land of the "free", is it not?

How free are you if you have to ask for permission to sit in a chair you brought from home?

Does anyone else think it's a tad ridiculous for the school to threaten me with academic holds & other disciplinary measures, simply because I brought a chair to sit on while studying outside between my classes?

Private or public university?

In this case I would get 50 other people to bring chairs with them to school and sit in them, then have those 50 bring 50 and so on..... Civil disobedience.
Be warned though, you probably will get written up.

I assume you are paying to go to this college? You are paying them.

Sit in your chair. The next time rent-a-cop threatens to write you up, threaten back. Tell them that if you can't sit in your chair, they can take ip up with the ACLU and/or your attorney. If that doesn't work, hire an attorney and contact the ACLU.

They'll keep doing it as long as they get away with it.

Originally posted by TravisBickle451
Private or public university?

Shouldn't matter, really. "Sitting in a chair" should in no way be construed as "causing a disturbance".

Originally posted by TravisBickle451
Private or public university?

Public, state owned college.

Originally posted by oonkala
In this case I would get 50 other people to bring chairs with them to school and sit in them, then have those 50 bring 50 and so on..... Civil disobedience.
Be warned though, you probably will get written up.

I would do that, but the Dean lady used that as an example of a "disruption", which is against their rules, which I want to play by for the time being.

I was just peacefully sitting in my chair minding my own business, well off the beaten path, not in anybody's way, and certainly not being "disruptive". Then they come along and tell me that if I want to sit in my chair, I have fill out a form, and get the "event" approved...

Originally posted by AwakeinNM
I assume you are paying to go to this college? You are paying them.

Sit in your chair. The next time rent-a-cop threatens to write you up, threaten back. Tell them that if you can't sit in your chair, they can take ip up with the ACLU and/or your attorney. If that doesn't work, hire an attorney and contact the ACLU.

They'll keep doing it as long as they get away with it.

Yes, I pay to go there. I brought that up and they tried shoving their student handbook down my throat (which I had already read). They kept quoting a section that pertains to "Public Events" and disruptions during those events (the text itself referred to a guest speaker or an event of similar nature), but I do not understand how one person, or even a group of friends just bringing chairs and sitting in a circle is considered a formal "event" that should require permission from the school.

And I have already contacted the ACLU in my state to ask their opinion on the whole matter.

wish i could tell you what to do but here in uk my chair was always the one outside the headmasters office

If you can't get a whole crowd to do the chair civil disobedience thing, the next best thing would be to flood the office with just as many and more paperwork of people asking if they can use a chair.

Then follow that with forms asking if you could use an umbrella, walking cane, and dozens of other ridiculous yet sensible items.

Let them see the silliness of their bureaucracy with the mounds of paperwork they'd have to work through.

reply to post by TravisBickle451


Ask them if you need a permit to fart in the hallways. Really get ridiculous.

We have assumed control........

Absolutely not. First a chair, then a table and after that total anarchy!

Your there to learn, not sit on your butt.

None of the kids at my college act this way.



I'm sure there other places for you to congregate with your classmates.

This is the funniest thing I have heard all night.

Thanks for the laugh.

Originally posted by Manhater

Your there to learn, not sit on your butt.

None of the kids at my college act this way.

I'm sure there other places for you to congregate with your classmates.

This is the funniest thing I have heard all night.

Thanks for the laugh.

edit on 9-1-2013 by Manhater because: (no reason given)

Obviously the complexities of the situation went clear over your head.

First; if you read my post instead of skimming it you would have seen where I said that I brought the chair so I could sit outside and study between classes.

Studying & doing your homework are both parts of the learning process are they not?

And act what way? Get pissed that the college is saying if you want to bring any "outside equipment" that you have to fill out a form and get permission?

Last time I checked my school doesn't provide laptops, cell phones, iPads, and other equipment I see students using all the time, yet they don't get threatened for not getting permission to use them. So why should I have to fill out a form to use my chair? Why should I have to fill out a form to use a chair in the first place? Who am I hurting, or distracting, or annoying by sitting in my chair? Whose day is going to be altered because they saw me sitting off to the side of the parking lot studying in my lawn chair? Who is the victim here? Nobody...




The point is not about my chair, or the bench, or other students' stuff brought from home. It's about the fact they are telling me I have to ask permission to use a chair. That I have to ask permission to do something most people wouldn't think is a big deal is the problem.

This is where it starts. What's next? Having to ask permission to use a pen? A phone? Asking permission to buy lunch from the cafeteria?

Ridiculous examples, yes. But just as ridiculous as having to ask permission to use a chair, and getting academic holds placed on your record for not complying...

No, I read it.

I don't bring my chair from home to have a place to sit at in college.

Go to the cafeteria or something. Why can't you study at the student center?

I'm sure they have one.

They have plenty of chairs there.

Originally posted by Manhater
No, I read it.

I don't bring my chair from home to have a place to sit at in college.

Go to the cafeteria or something. Why can't you study at the student center?

I'm sure they have one.

They have plenty of chairs there.

Maybe because I just don't want to. Did that ever occur to you?

Maybe I thought, "Gee, it's such a nice sunny day outside, maybe I should go sit out there and enjoy nature whilst finishing my assigned classwork.".

I don't see why my reasoning matters. It's not like I was picking the chair up and beating people with it, I was sitting in it doing homework, what most students are expected to do while in school.

It does seem a bit extreme. Two questions spring to mind.

1. Why did they move the bench in the first place?

2. Why are they so against allowing anyone to sit in the same spot on their own chair?

It all seems just a bit strange to me.

They moved it, according to the Dean, because of their "Campus beautification project", which so far has only included planting the bushes right where the bench was.

And I do not know because they won't give me a straight answer...

Originally posted by TravisBickle451
If you can't get a whole crowd to do the chair civil disobedience thing, the next best thing would be to flood the office with just as many and more paperwork of people asking if they can use a chair.

Then follow that with forms asking if you could use an umbrella, walking cane, and dozens of other ridiculous yet sensible items.

Let them see the silliness of their bureaucracy with the mounds of paperwork they'd have to work through.

Yep! I like this one! Do this, make them a victim of their own stupidity. Bwahahaha!
Yay for you on this comment, I like it!

Originally posted by oonkala

Originally posted by TravisBickle451
If you can't get a whole crowd to do the chair civil disobedience thing, the next best thing would be to flood the office with just as many and more paperwork of people asking if they can use a chair.

Then follow that with forms asking if you could use an umbrella, walking cane, and dozens of other ridiculous yet sensible items.

Let them see the silliness of their bureaucracy with the mounds of paperwork they'd have to work through.

Yep! I like this one! Do this, make them a victim of their own stupidity. Bwahahaha!
Yay for you on this comment, I like it!

Well I was "protesting" in the same spot today with my chair.

I made a sign and everything, which got the attention of passing students and I should have "backup" on Monday.

So yeah, hoping we can attract a bunch more people to join in and show them how stupid their non-existent rule is...