Cavs ban all signs at games

By Brian McNeill

Published: August 19, 2008

The University of Virginia has banned all signs at its athletics events, a move that some are construing as an infringement of Cavalier sports fans’ freedom of expression.

UVa students were notified of the new policy in an e-mail Tuesday. “Beginning this year, signs are not permitted inside athletics facilities,” the e-mail said. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

The new policy comes roughly a year after UVa student David Becker was threatened with ejection from Scott Stadium during a UVa football game against Duke University. Becker drew the ire of stadium officials for holding up a sign in the front row that read “Fire Groh.”

Becker’s homemade sign reflected a view of head football coach Al Groh that was shared by a number of Cavaliers fans at the time.

However, a Scott Stadium official informed Becker that his sign violated a policy banning any signs, flags or banner that contain “derogatory comments, profanity, impede another guest’s view of the field or cover any stadium signage.”

As of Tuesday, that policy had been changed to: “All banners, signs and flags are prohibited in Scott Stadium.”

Becker, who has often held up supportive signs at UVa football and basketball games, said he suspects that last year’s “Fire Groh” incident probably led to the new policy.

“As for relating this to last year, I think it may,” Becker, 20, wrote in an e-mail. “I sincerely regret the confusion over last year’s incident if it did in fact play a role in this decision.”

Becker said he does not believe that the new policy violates UVa fans’ First Amendment rights.

“While it’s disappointing to see all signs banned, I suspect the move was made to avoid any misinterpretation regarding the sign policy,” said Becker, a fourth-year biomedical engineering student from Woodbridge. “I’m not sure it infringes on our freedom of speech, as the athletic department has the power to regulate what is allowed to enter the athletic venues.”

Rich Murray, a spokesman for UVa’s athletics department, said the policy shift came after much consideration and discussion about signs at athletics events last fall. The new policy applies to football and basketball games, as well as all other athletics events.

“The policy change is intended to support and promote sportsmanship in a positive game-day environment for all fans in attendance,” Murray said.

UVa football fans reacted with irritation to the university’s new sign policy on the independent online message board thesabre.com.

“Entertaining creativity stifled again,” wrote one. “Ridiculous.”

“Somebody’s expecting us to have a pretty bad year, I guess,” posted another.

“So much for the 1st Amendment,” wrote a third.

Josh Wheeler, a lawyer and associate director at the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, said that although the new policy is a blanket prohibition on all signs, it ironically raises fewer constitutional concerns than did the old policy because it is both content- and viewpoint-neutral.

“The key factor in determining the constitutionality of a restriction on speech in a public place is whether it is directed at what is being said,” Wheeler said. “In other words, does the restriction apply to all speech, and not just the speech you don’t like?”