Stanford
Freedom of Expression

Posters, Banners and Chalking

Policies concerning posters, banners, and chalking differ across various areas of campus depending on the purpose and function of those areas. Spaces like White Plaza are available for the widest range of communication. On the other hand, student housing and residence halls are fora with particular educational purposes as well as serving as students’ homes. Other venues on campus, such as classroom buildings, libraries, and labs, also have distinct educational uses. 

Postering

Certain Indoor or Outdoor Bulletin Boards

  • Bulletin boards designated for general posting around campus may be used by registered university organizations and departments; please note that many departments do not permit unrelated materials on their bulletin boards.

White Plaza

  • Both community members and non-affiliates may display posters and flyers at public kiosks in White Plaza.
  • Registered university organizations and departments may display posters and flyers in the following areas: on the side of the concrete blocks in front of the Birdcage and Main Stage, and designated posting boards and kiosks.
  • The following items are prohibited: posters and flyers on the ground or sidewalk, bollards, trees, lamp posts, bushes, building walls, doors, windows, campus signs, tables, chairs, trash cans and the walls surrounding the Claw fountain. These items will be removed immediately, and the organizations violating this policy will be charged for clean-up.​​ Organizations must not monopolize the available space. 

Other Public Posting Spaces Around Campus 

  • Registered university organizations and departments may post on Galvez and Serra near El Camino and on the IM fence at the Churchill/El Camino intersection.
  • Both community members and non-affiliates may display posters and flyers at other public kiosks around campus.

Within University Residences

  • Advertising and publicity materials (i.e., fliers, posters, banners, or other materials) can be posted only on designated residential bulletin boards and only by members of the Stanford campus community. All fliers/posters must clearly identify the name of the individual or organization responsible for the content. They are limited to one per bulletin board and must be no larger than 11” x 17”.
  • The individual who posted the materials is responsible for removing any fliers/posters/banners after the event or opportunity being advertised. No one is permitted to cover or remove another’s flier, poster, banner, or materials.
  • Residents may display signage, including political signage, inside a window of their unit or on their unit’s door. Individual resident doors are the purview of the resident(s) of that room or apartment.

Certain kinds of postering are generally prohibited around campus:

  • Flyers may not be posted on building doors, walls, or windows, campus signs, tables, chairs, or trash cans, sidewalks or other paved surfaces, bollards, trees, lamp posts, bushes, campus signs, tables, chairs, trash cans (unless local rules for a particular building allow such signs, as is the case, for example, with Stanford Law School’s posting policy)
  • Posters, where permitted, should not be placed over other posters or use glue.
  • Organizations violating these rules may be charged a fee to cover the cost of staff sent to remove the signage or otherwise clean the posting areas.

Banners and Flags

White Plaza

  • Only registered student organizations and university departments are eligible to display banners in White Plaza with prior approval from Student Affairs Meeting Services. Banners must be no larger than 3 feet tall by 8 feet wide and may only be displayed at the "The Birdcage" hung at least 7 feet high with a clear sponsor on the banner. Banners may be displayed in White Plaza up to 5 days in advance of the planned event and must be removed within 24 hours following the scheduled event. For activities without an end date, banners may remain in place for 5 working days. Banners without any sponsor, prior approval, or left beyond the timeframe will be removed and thrown away. Banners are on a first come, first serve basis depending on space availability.

Serra and Galvez Streets along El Camino Real

  • For permission to post banners on the Serra/Galvez corners areas near El Camino Real, please contact: stanfordevents@stanford.edu or (650)724-1387

Stanford Intramural Field fence (along El Camino Real)

  • Stanford Intramural Field fence is located on the west side of the El Camino and Churchill intersection. A maximum of three banners can be posted at any given time. 

Residences

  • With the exception of banners that have been approved consistent with a residential theme, exterior banners, flags, or signage may not be placed on, or hang on or over the exterior of buildings, outside of common space windows, or on or over common space balcony railings.
  • Residents may place banners, flags, or signage on the inside or outside of window(s) and/or on or over balcony railings of their assigned room or unit provided all occupants of the assigned room or unit concur. Any flag, banner or signage placed on the window or balcony of a resident’s assigned room or unit may not impinge on adjacent windows, balconies, doorways, or walkways.
  • Approved residential theme banners and personal banners, flags, and signage placed on the window or balcony of a resident’s assigned room must not block egress from windows, doorways, or walkways.

Some placements of banners are generally not approved:

  • Banners or any other items must not block egress from windows, doorways, or walkways.
  • Banners or any other items must not be hung between trees.
  • Banners generally cannot be affixed to buildings, with the exception of those hung with approval under their local rules (which should be applied in a viewpoint-neutral way) by the Dean’s office for schools, by the Vice Provost and Dean of Research for institutes, or by the Office of the Provost for administrative units. 

Chalking

Blackboard chalking on the ground by Stanford community members is permitted under the following guidelines:

  • Only water-soluble sidewalk chalk may be used. The use of markers, paints, oil-based products, non-soluble substances, or spray chalk is prohibited.
  • Chalking is allowed on exterior concrete or asphalt sidewalks and walkways that are fully exposed to the elements, allowing rain to naturally wash away the chalk. Chalking is not permitted in areas covered by roofs or overhangs.
  • Chalking is strictly prohibited on non-sidewalk surfaces, including but not limited to brick sidewalks (both indoors and outdoors), benches, buildings, bus stops, columns, fountains, monuments, newsstands, overhangs, planters, poles, roads, rocks, signs, statues, stairs/steps, trash receptacles, trees, walls, windows, or any other structures.
  • Chalking will be regularly removed by facilities staff as part of normal maintenance, regardless of content, with cleaning typically conducted daily.
  • Spray chalk is strictly prohibited and will incur a cleaning fee.