In an email sent to the campus community early Wednesday, University of New Haven President Steven H. Kaplan said that the university will not penalize prospective students for protesting peacefully in the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

“The history of our nation is replete with examples of movements that began with a few voices that became many, and that have resulted in lasting change,” Kaplan wrote.

.@UNewHaven is pleased to join the scores of colleges and universities across the country in assuring our incoming students that they won’t be penalized for raising their voices in peaceful protest in response to the tragedy in Parkland. #ClassOf2022 https://t.co/omVCAeQMEW

— Steve Kaplan (@UNewHavenPres) February 27, 2018

Other colleges, like the University of Connecticut, and Ivy League schools like Dartmouth and Brown, put out similar statements, reassuring students that their right to peaceful protest would not affect their admissions decision.

UConn would like to assure students who have applied or been admitted to the University that disciplinary action associated with participation in peaceful protests will not affect your admission decision in any way.

— UConn (@UConn) February 24, 2018

The email continued saying, “as high school students across the country have organized authentic, meaningful protests, we at the University of New Haven have been proud of the important ways in which they have utilized their constitutional right to free speech to further their cause.”

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who lost 17 community members on Feb. 14, have organized a “March for Our Lives” on March 24 in Washington D.C. to call for stricter laws surrounding gun violence.

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