Aidan Van Nynatten

News Writer

No matter what building you walk into for classes, whether it’s Bryan, Sullivan, Curry, or anything in between, you can see the same thing written out on every door: “Please Do Not Post Flyers Or Student Announcements On Walls Or Doors In This Building.” Some may never even notice it, and even many who do likely don’t think much of it. Nevertheless, it is an omnipresent facet of our campus and an obstacle for students who wish to spread the word about extracurricular events and activities. Questions linger over these ubiquitous notices. Why is UNC Greensboro so opposed to student-affiliated notices, and are they against it despite the directives?

On the surface, the answer to the latter question seems like an obvious no to anyone who has gone through a campus academic building’s halls and seen a notice for a student event posted on the wall. The fact that a policy contradicting that reality is emblazoned on the entrance of every building complicates this notion. With that in mind, we can examine how this disjunction between stated policy and practical application manifests.

The first thing to clarify is that contrary to my belief when I first began looking into this, the policy is not campus-wide. It varies from building to building. For example, a particular protocol is in place for the Elliott University Center (EUC). I spoke with the EUC Division of Student Affairs for a briefing on the process’s ins and outs. One of the main stipulations about promoting student affairs in the EUC is that students don’t post information themselves. Official employees of the building hang posters on students’ behalf. After they have been in display cases for two weeks, the employees also remove them. 

The Division of Student Affairs vets each poster for its relevance to the student organization, and the policy doesn’t allow posters for individual promotion. While they don’t prohibit posters, student organizations must meet the stipulations, have posters that are the right size for the display options, and are limited in duration. The division informed me that the Jackson Library display cases—particularly the one in the EUC connector—are more flexible for students regarding accessibility and the time frame for display. A brief look at the library’s policy site confirms this point.

For a fuller understanding of this situation, it is just as important to consider students’ experiences attempting to promote events. Imani Badiabo, president of the recently formed Theatrics club, informed me that she put up flyers spreading awareness in Curry without any hassle and could leave them up indefinitely. The situation was the same in Moore Humanities & Research Administration (MHRA), which Badiabo considers equally lenient regarding student notices on the walls. In her account, the only regulation enforced in these buildings is not allowing student posters to block or obscure each other. 

UNCG Student Marketplace organizer Jules Belfi, featured in last week’s news article, cited a similar ease in putting up promotional material for the marketplace in MHRA, where she posted from the main hallway to the student lounge. Her experience was different in Bryan, where there are designated bulletin boards for posters, similar to the specified display cases in the EUC and Jackson Library, but without staff intervention. 

The residence halls are a different story and have a two-page instructions document for any students wishing to advertise through the Office of Housing and Residence Life. The college also has a general policy regarding posting, which suggests that students contact individual building managers to inquire about their specific variations in addition to the campus-wide guidelines.   

While it doesn’t appear that any buildings have outright bans on student notices, there are a range of student promotion regulations on campus. Any student looking to promote an event or organization needs to be prepared with the right approach based on their ideal poster locations, and in some cases, will have to meet particular guidelines and talk with representatives from campus buildings.