Free Moms at NC State, known for offering hugs, homemade treats and support to students, was told to cancel its weekly Thursday event as they were setting up during finals week.

Banks Peete, a doctoral student studying nuclear engineering and faculty advisor for the student group Students Supporting Free Moms, was present during the incident, along with other executive board members. He said that as volunteers were setting up tents and tables, they were approached by a man who had identified himself as “Tim,” who informed them that the event could not proceed due to university policy prohibiting groups from hosting public events during finals week.

Peete said “Tim” explained that allowing Free Moms to continue would be seen as special treatment and could prompt backlash from other campus groups, along with administrators. He then told Peete he had to attend a meeting in Witherspoon Student Center, asking to be notified when the student organization’s president arrived from her exam.

The student leaders said “Tim” never gave the board his last name or his affiliation with the University. When they asked if there was someone else to speak with in his department, “Tim” said there was no need, as he was in charge of making decisions.

The leaders said they believed “Tim” was Tim Hogan, director of NC State Student Centers, after researching university faculty.

Peete said once the rest of the board was present, the conversation with “Tim” grew more tense. He said “Tim” reiterated that the event had to shut down immediately, citing university regulations and warning that continued activity would constitute trespassing for the non-student volunteers.

Peete said the board offered to get in touch with their department heads to align the event with a department and comply with university policy.

“I said, well, I can text the head of my department right now, and I’m sure he will allow us to set up outside the building,” Peete said. “And [“Tim”] said, well, then you’re just trying to find a loophole in the rules, and I already know that you’re already breaking the rules — I would be aware of that.”

Peete said the board informed “Tim” of the resources and time it takes to prepare for a Free Moms event.

“And then we kept saying, like, what can we do?” Peete said. “Because we have 30 to 40 moms here, all these students already lined up — we have a bunch of flowers here. We have 3,000 servings of homemade food, thousands of dollars invested in it.”

Charlie Babcock, a fourth-year studying genetics and a member of the board, said the conversation wasn’t moving any further at this point, and “Tim” said he would call the police on the moms if the event wasn’t disbanded.

“He tells us that there is no arguing this,” Babcock said. “We need to break down at this point, we are getting into trespassing territory and he’s not going to call the cops on students because of his personal code, but he will call the cops on the moms.” 

Babcock said the board decided to pack up the event and encourage the moms to leave. The board distributed the moms’ treats and flowers to the students who had already lined up.

Peete said “Tim” warned that this event could impact Free Moms’ ability to host events on campus in the future.

“There’s no repercussions necessarily for the moms other than, like, you know, trespassing them, [“Tim”] said, but there could be repercussions for the student club, like us — the students supporting free moms,” Peete said. “[“Tim”] said, ‘You know, this type of bad behavior can reflect bad on you, and it could become very difficult for you all to reserve spaces and tables and chairs in the future.’ So, obviously we didn’t want that.”

Garrison Bruber, a third-year studying biochemistry and a member of the board, said students felt as if finals week was the most opportune time to seek support from Free Moms.

“I remember even one student said, ‘this is the most important week we need you guys,’ referring to Free Moms, and in my head, I was like, ‘exactly,’” Bruber said. “And then this is the one week we can’t be here. So a lot, just a lot of frustration. A lot of people were upset. Some were even crying.”

Aniston Boswell, president of Students Supporting Free Moms, said Free Moms has had a significant impact on many students, including herself. She said she had heard an account of one dorm building that had a clock that counted down to the weekly Free Moms event. She said she has also heard from students who have said Free Moms saved their lives.

Boswell said some students were in tears during the cancellation of the event.

“We had students breaking down today because they just wanted a hug from a free mom, and they couldn’t get it,” Boswell said. “They wanted a mom who would sit there, listen and be like, ‘you’re gonna be good, it’s gonna be fine.’”

Babcock said some students have taken to social media and have contacted local media outlets to express their frustrations

“We had students who were so outraged, they were saying, ‘Who do I call?

 Like, I’m serious, this is ridiculous,’” Babcock said. “They’re starting hashtags, #FreeFreeMoms, #TheyreNotTrespassing, like, it’s insane. They called WRAL for us.”

Peete said he sees a contradiction between the university’s decision and the purpose of wellness events.

“The university wants to have these wellness events during reading days and all that kind of stuff,” Peete said. “But, literally, the best one, they’re kicking off because it’s not university-run.”

According to a statement provided to Technician by university spokesperson Mick Kulikowski, the decision was based on NC State’s official regulation governing the use of university states. Kulikowski referenced section 4.6 of the policy, which states:

“Groups and individuals are not allowed to reserve or use outdoor University Space for activities on reading days, dates of spring and fall semester final examinations, wellness days, university holidays, or when the university is operating under adverse weather or emergency event conditions. Only University Units can reserve and use outdoor University Space for activities during wellness days, reading days, or spring and fall semester final examinations.”

The university did not respond to Technician’s inquiry about how Free Moms were informed of the event’s cancellation.