Nurses for Bernie fail to follow UD policy, Public Safety kicks off campus

By: Dominic Sanfilippo – Staff Writer

Editor’s note: Click here for the follow-up on this story. 

On Monday, March 14, the Nurses for Bernie drove up to the University of Dayton’s campus for a quick stop on Brown and Stonemill Streets during their cross-country tour supporting the candidacy of Senator Bernie Sanders for the presidency.

National Nurses United, the largest nurses’ union in the country with 185,000 members, sponsor the nurses to travel the country and connect with voters on issues like health care and student debt. Upon their arrival, the nurses walked through the sun-lit streets of the University of Dayton’s student neighborhood and spoke to Flyer News about their experiences.

As soon as they crossed onto the sidewalk on Evanston Avenue, which connects the neighborhood to UD’s academic campus, public safety officers rolled up and demanded the nurses leave campus immediately because they were trespassing on private property and had not cleared their presence with the university beforehand.

UD has rules preventing any sort of political activity on campus without prior clearance because they are sensitive about their 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. The nurses were confused and alarmed they could not even approach students and talk to them on campus property, as they had been on many private—and parochial—college campuses in the months and weeks prior with no problems.

To read more about restrictions of political activity at 501(c)(3) nonprofit college campuses, visit here.

Photo: Nurse Michelle Mahon (left) and recently retired nurse Margie Keenan (right) stand in front of their Nurses for Bernie campaign bus near campus. Photo by Dominic Sanfilippo.