International law firm Cooley, LLP had unrestricted access to members of the campus community and relevant materials as they conducted their thorough inquiry. Photo provided by IU.

News Release

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana University today released the findings of an independent review of the events that took place on Dunn Meadow in April 2024 and the complex factors that culminated in police intervention. Selected in an objective Request For Proposal process — in part for their experience in conducting internal reviews of complex situations — international law firm Cooley, LLP had unrestricted access to members of the campus community and relevant materials as they conducted their thorough inquiry.

“I am grateful for this independent and thorough third-party perspective,” said IU President Pamela Whitten. “We sincerely appreciate the depth and detail of Cooley’s independent review and will leverage their insights to move forward with purpose, guided by our core values and tirelessly pursuing our top priority: a safe campus with freedom of speech for all.”

“We conducted an extensive, thorough review of the events leading up to and during the Dunn Meadow protests,” said Rebekah Donaleski, Cooley’s lead investigator and a partner in the White Collar Defense & Investigations Group. “We found that the university’s actions were driven by a focus on campus safety and free speech in a challenging and rapidly evolving situation. We identified a number of recommendations for IU to make meaningful improvements to its policies, processes and communication that will help the university and its community moving forward.”

During their six-week investigation, intended to conclude well in advance of the upcoming school year, the Cooley team enjoyed unrestricted access to IU. The firm collected and reviewed more than 10,000 internal documents and emails, more than 100 hours of video footage and relevant university policies. They also conducted interviews with a wide array of campus representatives, including administrators, students, faculty and members of the Indiana University Police Department, as well as community members, the Monroe County prosecutor and members of the Indiana State Police.

In addition to a timeline of key events, the 70-page document identifies key factual observations, which include:

• IU’s leadership balanced free speech, campus safety and regular university operations amidst a challenging and rapidly evolving situation.
• IU leadership’s decision to change the Dunn Meadow policy was permissible
  under university policies and applicable legal standards, including the First Amendment; however, doing so the night before the planned encampment caused a number of unintended negative consequences.
• IU has a decades-long history of inconsistently enforcing its policies, which has caused confusion and frustration and makes governance difficult.
• IU administrators repeatedly asked the protesters to remove the encampment structures and to continue the protest without them, but some protesters refused, and ultimately, using the Indiana State Police’s assistance was the safest option available to remove the encampment.
• IU Police Department is a critical university-wide resource, but their understaffing causes a myriad of negative effects.

The report also includes recommendations the university can implement to improve its policies, safety and communications:

• Recommendation 1: IU should approve a new expressive activity policy.
• Recommendation 2: To establish clearer and more consistent policies, the IU president should direct a review for gaps or inconsistencies between university-wide and campus-specific policies and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees on necessary changes.
• Recommendation 3: IU should implement adequate training and communication about its policies and appropriate audit procedures to ensure the consistent application of policies.
• Recommendation 4: IU should establish a plan for implementing any new policy related to expressive activity.
  • Recommendation 4.1: IU should clearly communicate this plan to relevant stakeholders and set expectations regarding the Indiana State Police’s involvement.
  • Recommendation 4.2: IU should impose predictable and consistent conduct consequences for violating any new policy.
• Recommendation 5: IU should increase funding to the IU Police Department in order to hire and retain more officers and bolster existing training and technological capacity.
• Recommendation 6: IU should consider utilizing campus-wide communications to alert the IU community of encampments or other large-scale or disruptive protests.
• Recommendation 7: IU should consider adopting a policy of not issuing official statements about public matters that do not directly affect the university’s core functions.
• Recommendation 8: IU should improve communications involving critical constituencies on campus.

Read the full report here.