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[mystictechgal]

Have you gone to the DOS, yet?

[amador]

I'm afraid, OP, that if you're in a public university, there's nothing against the law when it comes to conducting interviews.  No matter how obnoxious they get, if you're free to walk away and they're not going to use your image for financial gain, they're free to film as much as they like.  If you're concerned, however, that the *safety* of a specific person or group is at stake, that's a very different story, but then this goes first to campus security, then to the DoS.

It's sad, but it is what it is.  While freedom of speech is very cherished in this country, IMO it's also the strategy of choice by majority groups or the well-moneyed to keep "these people" in their place, whatever "these people" may be at a given historical conjuncture.  In my campus (whose president and provost, btw, are two open GOP supporters), Hispanic, black, or social justice group concentrations are closely monitored by campus police (our fearless leaders are all about "safety"), while right wing extremists like "minutemen" groups, evangelical campus preachers or the more obnoxious anti-abortionists can set shop there for days without one blue man ever passing by.  Some of us have complained, in writing, that some of these people are looking for some kind of physical confrontation and that it's not fair that our students, who pay their taxes and fees, should walk around campus feeling threatened.  But then our fearless leaders are all about free speech (chickens*** scared of lawsuits, too).

[msparticularity]

They were not polite, and they may have violated a university policy.  Mine has a "free speech" area in which people who want to shout at others must stand.  Students joke that the rest of the campus is not a free speech zone, which is true in some ways because outside it everyone on campus is supposed to be respectful to everyone else.

What would happen if a student wasn't "respectful" outside of the "free speech area"?

Colleges and universities--even public ones--can legally enforce a "civil speech" code on campus because they have an affirmative responsibility to maintain a safe and open environment for students. While it is perfectly legal to (say) insult someone for any number of reasons including those related to identity in public, a university can promulgate standards and enforce prohibitions against this kind of behavior.

Supposing for a moment that the OP's account is truthful, then if the college in question has some kind of civil speech code then these supposed "reporters" may possibly have violated that--but not the law.

[embitteredhistorian]

They were not polite, and they may have violated a university policy.  Mine has a "free speech" area in which people who want to shout at others must stand.  Students joke that the rest of the campus is not a free speech zone, which is true in some ways because outside it everyone on campus is supposed to be respectful to everyone else.

What would happen if a student wasn't "respectful" outside of the "free speech area"?

Colleges and universities--even public ones--can legally enforce a "civil speech" code on campus because they have an affirmative responsibility to maintain a safe and open environment for students. While it is perfectly legal to (say) insult someone for any number of reasons including those related to identity in public, a university can promulgate standards and enforce prohibitions against this kind of behavior.

That doesn't really answer my question, though. How are they able to legally enforce the code? Do they have rights to fine and incarcerate individuals, or do they just escort the individuals off of university property?

[msparticularity]

They were not polite, and they may have violated a university policy.  Mine has a "free speech" area in which people who want to shout at others must stand.  Students joke that the rest of the campus is not a free speech zone, which is true in some ways because outside it everyone on campus is supposed to be respectful to everyone else.

What would happen if a student wasn't "respectful" outside of the "free speech area"?

Colleges and universities--even public ones--can legally enforce a "civil speech" code on campus because they have an affirmative responsibility to maintain a safe and open environment for students. While it is perfectly legal to (say) insult someone for any number of reasons including those related to identity in public, a university can promulgate standards and enforce prohibitions against this kind of behavior.

That doesn't really answer my question, though. How are they able to legally enforce the code? Do they have rights to fine and incarcerate individuals, or do they just escort the individuals off of university property?

If the offenders are university students or employees they can pursue campus-specific measures: suspension and firing and/or expulsion. If the offenders come from off campus they can remove them and warn them not to return--then turn to the local police for enforcement of no-trespassing laws if they do attempt to return.

[amador]

I see twhat msparticularity says about measures against campus-affiliated persons, but

If the offenders come from off campus they can remove them and warn them not to return--then turn to the local police for enforcement of no-trespassing laws if they do attempt to return.

Doesn't this violate first amendment rights?

[msparticularity]

I see twhat msparticularity says about measures against campus-affiliated persons, but

If the offenders come from off campus they can remove them and warn them not to return--then turn to the local police for enforcement of no-trespassing laws if they do attempt to return.

Doesn't this violate first amendment rights?

Not if they have violated university regs and been warned off. Campus codes for all kinds of things, including banning alcohol and tobacco, are binding on everyone--not just the students and staff.