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The University of Utah is asking faculty to comply with the new state law banning the public display of pride flags on campus — or expect the Legislature to crack down even more. “They have a lot of power over us,” said Robert Payne, deputy general counsel at the school. Payne spoke during a faculty meeting Monday, giving direction to faculty and staff about how the controversial law, HB77 , now applies to them and what it means for their office spaces and the university at-large.
His message was largely a warning. The bill was specifically drafted by Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, to ban flags celebrating the LGBTQ community in schools.
It was later expanded to apply on all government property in the state. Public higher education is included. The provisions take effect on May 7 after Utah Gov.
Spencer Cox allowed HB77 to become law without signing or vetoing it. He said he had “serious concerns” but acknowledged a veto would be overridden. It made Utah the first in the nation to take that step.
The measure also bans other non-sanctioned flags from public display, including a flag expressing support for President Donald Trump or one for the Black Lives Matter movement. The flags allowed are: the U.S.
flag, Utah state flag, flags of Native American tribes, Olympic flags, military flags, flags of other countries and flags for colleges and universities. Payne stressed that institutions that violate the law will face consequences. Under the measure, the state auditor will enforce the prohibition.
A school will have up to 30 days to resolve a reported violation, and after that, can be fined $500 per day if it persists. He urged faculty to not “be a lightening rod to the Legislature.” The U.
, he said, wants to “avoid even worse consequences.” The U.’s faculty have increasingly prompted pushback from state leaders, who have suggested that the school has become too progressive.
That included an event a year ago — in April 2024 — when students and staff plastered the walls of the atrium inside the College of Social Work building with dozens of pride and transgender flags in protest of an event where Michael Knowles was speaking. Knowles is a political commentator who has called for the “eradication” of “transgenderism.” And he was hosted on campus by the U.
’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter, a rightwing activist group. His speech came shortly after the Utah Legislature also rolled back diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, efforts at the state’s public colleges and universities. The U.
later shut down its on-campus LGBT Resource Center in response to that law , which applied to K-12 schools as well. The school still held its annual Pride Week celebration last month, where pride flags were flown; it’s not clear if that will happen again next year, according to guidance put out by the school. The school has also previously participated in annual summer parades, including the Rainbow March and Rally held in downtown Salt Lake City as part of Utah Pride Week in June, where students have held flags in pride colors featuring the U.
logo. Payne said there is some latitude for university faculty that doesn’t exist for K-12 schools with the flag ban. While a display like the one last year likely wouldn’t be allowed — it depends on who is leading it — faculty can have a pride flag in their private office, as long as it’s not publicly visible from a window.
K-12 teachers often have their personal desk inside their classroom, which is a public space and wouldn’t allow for the same leeway. Professors and staff, too, Payne said, continue to have the freedom of speech to wear T-shirts or pins, for instance, that have pride symbols. The difference under the law, he said, is that is a right of individual expression.
But lawmakers, he said, “have the ability to regulate the speech of the institution.” And the Utah System of Higher Education issued a policy in late 2023 requiring that public college and university administrations in the state remain neutral on all political issues , meaning a school cannot issue a statement taking a stance on something like the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. One faculty member asked if they could have a digital pride flag, for instance, in the signature block of their email.
Payne said that should be allowed. He pointed to the language of HB77, which prohibits only flags and defines those as “a usually rectangular piece of fabric with a specific design that symbolizes a location, government entity, or cause.” Cox wrote in a letter about his decision to not sign the bill that he felt the ban would only encourage other types of political displays, such as posters.
Some faculty raised that during the discussion. C. Thi Nguyen, a U.
philosophy professor, asked if faculty could have signs that say, “You’re so welcome,” which are common on campus. While that’s technically allowed, Payne said, he worries that if all employees move forward with printing and hanging posters that have the same message as a pride flag, it will prompt ire from state leaders. “It doesn’t mean that next year the Legislature won’t come back with something worse,” Payne said.
The only real small carveout, the attorney said, is that individual groups that are not sponsored by the university, such as a registered student club that doesn’t officially represent the school, could display pride flags for a singular event on campus. A group that is more formally tied to the school, such as student government, cannot. “As student, I really want to express my displeasure at this change, particularly in the sense of how sponsored student organizations and student government is prohibited from making these displays with flags,” said Jack VanDerHeyden, a student at the U.
who attended the Monday meeting. Payne said faculty and students can voice their concerns to the Legislature and the Utah System of Higher Education . “This is coming down from above,” he added.
Other professors raised concerns about how the measure would be enforced on campus. Thomas Cheatham, a professor of medicinal chemistry and the director of the Center for High Performance Computing, questioned if there would be “pride police” looking in the windows of faculty offices, trying to find violators. Maile Arvin, an associate professor of history and gender studies, worried about that, too: “Are there now going to be particular offices on campus that are going to be charged with looking around and seeing if there are flags on display?” Payne said at this point the school hasn’t “looked that far down the road.
” But, he said, if employees aren’t following the policy, the first step will be to have a conversation with them. Bryan Jones, an associate professor at the John Moran Eye Center, wrote in the comments during the meeting: “The urge to become ungovernable is strong.” Several faculty members added a “thumbs up” emoji in support.
(Isaac Hale | Special to The Tribune) University of Utah students, from left, Bryce Cheek, Zoe Weatherington and Maya Lebar march down State Street with other attendees down during the Rainbow March and Rally held in downtown Salt Lake City as part of Utah Pride Week on Sunday, June 6, 2021..
