Fight for Free Speech for The Fence at Carnegie Mellon University

The Fence has long stood as the most visible symbol of free expression at Carnegie Mellon. Students for generations have relied on it to speak their minds, challenge power, and make their voices impossible to ignore.

That tradition was broken when administrators stepped in and ordered a message critical of a controversial public figure to be erased. By painting over the work of students, the university silenced a protest that was clearly understood by everyone who saw it. This was not preservation of tradition. It was censorship.

President Farnam Jahanian now points to a working group as the solution, but this committee has little transparency, minimal student representation, and no accountability. It is a bureaucratic stall tactic that avoids the real issue. Students do not need another closed-door committee. They need guarantees that their voices will not be erased.

We, the undersigned, demand that Carnegie Mellon adopt a clear written policy prohibiting any administrator from painting over or removing student expression on The Fence, except in the rare cases already covered by tradition, such as profanity or unambiguous threats. If guidelines exist, they must be followed strictly, not rewritten at the whim of administrators worried about optics.

Carnegie Mellon cannot claim to prepare students for leadership in a free society while silencing them on their own campus. The Fence must be returned fully to the students, protected by policy, and shielded from administrative interference.

President Jahanian, we call on you to act now. End the censorship. Put the policy in writing. Restore The Fence to its rightful place as the voice of the student body.