Election season is here,
but are students and employees? As
campuses open this fall, whether in-person or virtually, students and employees
will be eager to exercise political speech, engage in partisan exchanges,
volunteer on campaigns, run for election, and otherwise engage in important
democratic activities that are both protected and regulated. Institutions will be called upon to comply
with traditional laws and regulations governing political activity in a novel
context. They must untangle questions
about whether a Zoom banner is analogous to a campaign button, when students and
employees can use licensed resources for various political activities, and how
the institution will comply with voter registration obligations under the
Higher Education Act when students and faculty are not physically present on
campus. They must address these
questions amidst unprecedented political polarization, where it has become
difficult to distinguish issue advocacy from campaign advocacy.
Join us for this 2-hour webinar, where three outstanding
presenters from public and private institutions, as well as the American
Council on Education, will discuss:
- Regulated activities for 501(c)(3) entities and related state laws governing political activity at public institutions,
- The application of various rules and regulations governing political activity to the COVID-19 context,
- Non-Partisan Activity in the COVID-19 context,
- Partisan Activity in the COVID-19 context, and
- Strategies for refining and implementing policies on a short time frame.
This webinar will be of interest to in-house and outside counsel to colleges and universities, as well as administrators in the Office of the Provost, Human Resources, Student Affairs, and others who interface with students and employees who desire to engage in the political process.