University of Illinois employees, feel free to put a John McCain sticker on your car or attend a Barack Obama rally on campus.

UI President B. Joseph White e-mailed UI employees Monday afternoon to clarify the university's position on what sort of political activities employees can and can't do.

White stated that it's OK for employees to go to a political rally on campus if they're not working, to don a partisan button if they're not at their workplace, and to put stickers on their cars.

His message comes several weeks after an ethics newsletter sent to UI employees warned them against certain activities. The prohibited list included wearing a T-shirt in favor of a political party or candidate and handing out campaign literature around campus even while on break.

At the time, White said the newsletter, which has now been removed from the university ethics site, served to remind employees of the 2003 State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, which prohibits state employees from using state resources to conduct political activity. White called for employees to take a "common sense" approach.

But many employees were up in arms. Last week, graduate employees held a political rally on the Quad in protest. And the American Association of University Professors sent a notice to faculty about the newsletter.

Cary Nelson, the association's president and a UI emeritus professor, said the rules, although not being enforced, had a "chilling effect on speech, their interference with the educational process, and their implicit castigation of normal practice during political campaigns."

"I really am sorry the university has come to this point," said UI emeritus professor Ken Anderson Monday at the campus senate meeting after White's letter was shared with senators. The university "has endured shame nationally," because of the attention the issue received, Anderson said.

"This is not what the university ought to be about," he said.

During Monday's meeting faculty also raised additional concerns and questions, among them, how do you define a work place? Is it a lecture hall? A departmental office? Associate Chancellor Peg Rawles said she would be talking with university staff and attorneys to address their questions.

In Monday's message, White promised UI leaders would "preserve, protect and defend the constitutionally guaranteed rights of every member of our university community, including, of course, freedom of speech and assembly." The university will also preserve, protect and defend academic freedom, he wrote.

"It's a very encouraging first step," said UI graduate employee Michael Simeone. However, the Graduate Employees Union does have some lingering concerns, he said.

Even though White stated the newsletter was not university policy, "which has precedence: university policy or state law?" he asked.

In his e-mail, White wrote that the courts have not provided a lot of guidance on the act's interpretation.

He also said he and his staff will work with state officials "to ensure that interpretations of the Ethics Act do not restrict constitutionally guaranteed rights of state employees and, in the case of higher education and this university, academic freedom."

"This is not an issue of not trusting President White" Simeone said, but "about making sure the basic rights and freedom for academic professionals are written into law like they ought to be."