Have you ever worried you couldn’t wear a political shirt or button? Would a political bumper sticker ever be banned?

Of course not; the First Amendment protects all of those forms of expression.

But faculty members at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign may have to think again.

Recently, Illinois’ Ethics Office sent out a newsletter about wearing political paraphernalia, stating faculty and staff members could not use school funding to support a candidate.

The newsletter also stated faculty and staff members could not wear partisan buttons, partisan clothing or display candidate bumper stickers on their car.

Because these statements caused some questioning, Illinois President Joe White responded in an e-mail to faculty and staff members in order to clarify the purpose of the newsletter.

White’s e-mail said the newsletter sent out by the Ethics Office was not a university policy statement, but an interpretation of the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act from 2003.

The e-mail also summarized that university employees can attend political rallies, wear political buttons and display partisan bumper stickers as they are not in the workplace or on duty.

“Due to all the committees I am on, I am actually careful not to express my political views in a public forum,” said Laura Greene, Illinois physics professor. “However, after learning how one vice presidential candidate wishes to institute teaching creationism in the schools, I felt it was both moral and ethical, as a scientist, to make a statement.”

Greene said she exchanged e-mails with an ethics officer and was told that in any university setting, she could not show partisanship. She agreed to remove her button but questioned her rights to freedom of speech.

Illinois English professor and President of the American Association of University Professors, Cary Nelson agrees.

“We [the AAUP] sent President White a letter saying we believe this is still unconstitutional,” Nelson said.

Nelson hopes the pressure from AAUP will help resolve this issue.

Melanie Magara, assistant vice president for Public Affairs at NIU, explained NIU’s stance on political attire. She said essentially all universities have the same prohibition against political campaigning during work hours.

“What is happening at U of I is an interpretation by their legal office of this prohibition. [NIU’s] interpretation is that it does not extend to political buttons or bumper stickers,” Magara said.

As much as students despise having a professor who is their political polar opposite, universities should not mandate professors to give up their constitutional rights.

Nelson said that as long as political paraphernalia does not disrupt work, faculty should be allowed to display partisanship.

My thoughts exactly.