I spent much of the last week trying to make sense of my thoughts and feelings about the events unfolding on college campuses across the country.
As a recovering vp/dean of students, I know I view all this through a very particular lens. And I confess I may have a bit of a chip on my shoulder born of past experience, and probably a bit of survivor’s guilt from seeing my former colleagues once again thrown into the fire while I watch from afar. But I try to be objective and regularly remind myself how little I know about what is actually happening or the mountains of relevant information that are guiding the decision makers on each campus. And I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt that they are acting in good faith.
So, here’s what I’ve come up with: It's complicated. It’s messy. And it’s sad.
For those of us who have made teaching and supporting college students our life’s work, sun splashed April afternoons tend to evoke certain images. Students spread out across fresh green quads listening to music and tossing Frisbees with their classmates and friends. Students crowded along the fence line watching a softball or lacrosse game. Students hunkering down in the library to work on term papers and finish course readings ahead of final exams. And, yes, groups of student protesters calling attention to a particular issue or injustice. But not like this. There is not supposed to be palpable hostility. There’s not supposed to be overt bigotry and threats and violence directed at other members of the campus community. And there certainly is not supposed to be police in riot gear and mass arrests.
It’s complicated.
In some important way, the fact that so many students are moved to action by indiscriminate violence, rape, murder, and the mass bombing of innocent civilians should be seen as the sign of a healthy democracy and celebrated as such. However, there is no getting around the fact that the Israel-Palestine situation is incredibly complicated. That’s why it is so divisive on college campuses that for decades have been increasingly defined by political homogeneity. But the inclination of protesters and counter-protesters to over simplify what’s happening to fit their own particular narrative has only further inflamed the situation and deepened the divides.
The right to free speech and to protest are imperatives on college campuses. Calling attention to injustice is central to democracy and at the core of a pluralistic society. Free expression and the right to assemble are essential values in communities of learning and must be safeguarded.
But rights come with responsibilities.
Free speech in an academic setting is about the exchange of ideas. Learning requires give and take – both speaking and listening. Sadly, in the current moment there is a lot of shouting back and forth and a paucity of openness to or consideration of what the other side is saying. Idealism and passion surely play a crucial role in shining a light on injustice. If they aren’t tempered by empathy, curiosity, and humility, though, idealism and passion risk becoming mere tools of zealotry and fanaticism – where complexity is anathema and cruelty is the coin of the realm. But higher education is entirely about complexity, and learning is not possible where cruelty exists.
It’s messy.
The tendency of alumni, elected officials, and media onlookers to deride administrators as feckless and ineffectual suggests that reining in order around an emotionally charged and highly contentious political issue in a community committed to free expression, dependent on large charitable donations to fund the enterprise, and populated by idealistic 18 to 22 year-olds and faculty with lifetime job security is merely an act of administrative competence. As if there were an easy answer and nobody – not one single college president or dean or provost or board chair … nobody! – has thought of it. Sure.
The job of a college president is frequently compared to herding cats. That’s on a good day. At times like this - when masked protesters are overtaking your office, partisan politicians are trying to make hay over your campus’ misfortune, and talking heads on Fox, MSNBC, and CNN are using you as a pin cushion – being a college president is more like trying to corral rabid squirrels in a bathtub full of toasters.
The critics say it should be easy to resolve these conflicts. It should be simple to enforce the policies on the books. It should be a snap to get students and faculty to agree to and comply with some basic ground rules for engaging in peaceful protest.
Okay. Maybe it should be. But it’s not.
Put Elise Stefanik or Joe Scarborough in a classroom with 150 self-righteous sophomores screaming and pointing iPhone video cameras at them and we’ll see how tough they really are.
This is not to say that all college leaders have particularly distinguished themselves in their responses to recent events. A reasonable reading of events suggests that there have been both overreactions and underreactions to situations unfolding on campuses. It seems clear that in some instances where the police have been called in and protesters were arrested, the presidents in question really had no other viable option. How do you look the other way when a masked mob refusing to identify themselves forcibly take over the president’s office? On the other hand, reporting suggests that in other cases campus leaders turned to what should be the response of last resort before all other options had been exhausted.
Inconsistent and seemingly selective application of policies governing both speech and student conduct related to protesting over time has also significantly complicated things at many institutions. It’s hard to take the position that inflammatory chants like “From the river to the sea” which are experienced as threatening and antisemitic by many Jewish students should be treated as free speech when in the past racist and homophobic speech has prompted a swift institutional response.
Still, college leaders can’t ignore deliberate and flagrant violations of campus policies – especially when they relate to behaviors that are overtly threatening, violent, or disrupt other students’ ability to function on campus. Protesters have been explicit in stating that they will continue to escalate their tactics until their demands are met. While there is no reason to question the sincerity of the beliefs held by protesters, it is equally true that many are not acting in good faith in their interactions with administrators.
That these protests are going to profoundly impact the end of the year and disrupt commencement ceremonies on many campuses is inevitable. No doubt, leaders of the protest movements will say that these disruptions are essential – and celebrating graduation is trivial when weighed against the injustice being perpetrated in Gaza.
I’m sorry, but that’s self-serving nonsense.
There is and will always be injustice occurring somewhere in the world. (Indeed, the atrocities currently unfolding around the world are not limited to the Israel-Hamas conflict.) But that doesn’t mean that it is wrong to acknowledge and celebrate notable milestones and accomplishments like graduating from college – or completing a graduate degree.
And it is important to keep in mind that the college class of 2024 already missed out on their high school graduation because of COVID. Likewise, the start of their college experience was defined largely by mask wearing, social distancing, and remote learning. To deprive them and their families of the opportunity to have a normal graduation this spring is selfish and cruel. And profoundly counter-productive if the aim is truly to build support for their cause.
Still, nothing is going to prevent it from happening. Speakers will be interrupted or cancelled all together. Ceremonies will be altered. Some students and their families on both sides of the conflict will choose not to attend out of fear of being subjected to threats and taunts. Some faculty will promote and participate in demonstrations without regard for the students they are alienating or the harm they are doing to the whole higher education enterprise. And the cumulative effect will be to accomplish exactly nothing in terms of bringing about a faster end to the war in the Middle East.
It's sad.
This is an incredibly fraught and complex time on American college campuses. The current generation of students have come of age in a remarkably tumultuous era and are understandably suspect of institutions and the state of our politics. This moment calls for sober, compassionate, and nuanced guidance from institutional leaders. Both faculty and administrators need to summon their best selves and model how thoughtful members of a community come together to navigate their differences and work in collaboration for the common good.