Seven months after Carnegie Mellon University convened a committee to develop new recommendations for operating The Fence — a long-standing “student-centered space for free expression and community,” as the university describes it — students are pushing for action.

On Thursday, a petition backed by at least nine student groups and more than 500 signatures will be hand-delivered to the university president’s office, calling on CMU to adopt a formal policy prohibiting administrators from removing or altering student messages on The Fence.

In July 2025, CMU President Farnam Jahanian temporarily shut down use of The Fence for a week, following a controversial message painted by Carnegie Mellon University Democrats targeting President Donald Trump just hours before his campus visit for the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit.

Campus officials ordered the message be painted over and a group of students returned to campus to restore the message amid the summit, before once again having their message covered.

The incident sparked outrage, conversation and concerns over censorship from multiple student groups.

Since reopening, The Fence has operated under the same rules and regulations. A 17-member group — made up of a mix of university students, staff and alumni nominated by the Student Government, Faculty Senate, Alumni Association Board and Staff Council — have been discussing the tradition’s future.

Thursday’s petition expresses concern over the committee’s operation, saying it has “little transparency, limited student representation and no clear accountability.”

At 1 p.m. a broad coalition of student organizations — including CMU Democrats, Carnegie Mellon College Republicans, Carnegie Mellon College Progressives, Carnegie Mellon Debate, PRISM, BRICK@CMU, and the Undergraduate Student Senate — will be gathering at The Fence for a rally.

The group will then walk over the Warner Hall, where student board members from Young Americans for Liberty will hand over the petition, said Anthony Cacciato, president of the CMU College Republicans.

“The Fence only works if students control it. Expression is often bold, controversial and direct. That is why it matters. If administrators can step in when speech becomes inconvenient, then student control is conditional, not real,” the petition said.

The committee is expected to make new Fence recommendations by the end of the academic year.

CMU officials have not yet responded to request for comment on Thursday.