This story was originally aired by Carolina Connection, the UNC student radio newscast from the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, on April 13, 2024. 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com airs Carolina Connection on Saturday mornings, and partners with student reporting to publish select stories.
At a March 22 protest organized by UNC’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, members gathered on the steps of South Building to hold a die-in – a type of protest where participants lie down to represent the lives lost in conflict.
UNC leaders expressed concern about the event – not because of what the protesters were saying, but because of what many of them were wearing – medical masks, the same ones that a lot of us wore during the pandemic. SJP has advised protesters in protest announcements to wear masks, and a spokesperson for the group said “masks are encouraged at protests to ensure the safety of “immunocompromised members and allies.”
But a 1953 North Carolina anti-mask law prohibits “masks, hoods or devices” meant to conceal a person’s identity from being worn in public spaces. The law was initially enacted to penalize Ku Klux Klan members because Klan rallies often included hooded cloaks. Since then, a stipulation was added in 2020 exempting masks worn to “ensure the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.”
At March’s UNC BOT meeting, Professor Emily Putnam-Hornstein from the School of Social Work suggested the SJP protesters are breaking the law.
“Let’s look at how they themselves have communicated to their members and described their own actions,” Putnam-Hornstein said. “In preparation for their protest on the 17th, they posted recommended attire as ‘masks and plain clothes, face coverings, more to come.’ On October 25, following their protest on the 17th, they publicly announced that masking is ‘required for all events going forward unless otherwise stated.'”
UNC Provost Christopher Clemens also sent an email to SJP on March 21, the day before the die-in. It reads:
“I am writing respectfully to request that you ask the students not to wear masks (except for allowable medical exceptions or religious head coverings) for their protests. This practice, currently encouraged by leadership, runs counter to our campus norms and is a violation of UNC policy and State law.”
UNC Media Relations would not make Clemens or other university officials available for interviews.
But, according to lawyer and professor Robert Kahn from the University of St. Thomas, when interpreted in court, anti-mask laws face first amendment protections.
“That strikes me as a fairly clear violation of the intent of the mask laws and overreaching and something that is protected speech under the First Amendment,” Kahn said.
Kahn studies anti-mask laws and he said the world has changed a lot since many of them were written – not only because of a global pandemic.
“In a society with closed circuit TV and doxing, policy ought to be modified to reflect the growth of facial recognition technology,” Kahn added.
Kahn said universities can stop protests that are disruptive – regardless of whether protesters are masked. At the same BOT meeting where Putnam-Hornstein spoke, SJP protestors interrupted twice. Trustee David Boliek spoke to the board, asking punitive measures to be taken.
“Once again,” Boliek said, “I would ask the vice chair for student affairs to determine if that’s a student, and if disciplinary action is appropriate, I would request that disciplinary action take place”
SJP cites UNC’s extra focus on masking during protests as one of several reasons the organization filed a Title VI complaint against the university this week. That’s a formal complaint to the U.S. Department of Education which outlines claims of discrimination. A different Title VI compliant was filed against UNC earlier this year by a local attorney alleging antisemitism on campus.
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