Student protesters at Penn want the university to disclose its investments in Israel and in weapons manufacturers.

However, when a news reporter or a counter protester asks a question, their response (according to CNN) is “We don’t engage.”

Great. I hope the university doesn’t engage either.

I was also deeply impressed when the Columbia protesters occupying a campus building demanded the university provide them with food, calling it basic humanitarian aid.

There was probably a hot dog cart or a pizza place within a few blocks. Open the door and go get yourself some food. It’s only basic humanitarian aid when, like the people in Gaza, you cannot go get it for yourself.

And, at UCLA, the protesters jeered the provost and told him that they don’t negotiate with him “in this space” (the encampment, which is of course on campus property). And, when he decided to leave, they shook their fingers in his face and blocked him from leaving (until one of them told the others to let him go), and then followed him and called him a coward. The funniest part was one person angrily told him that he needed to stay because s/he “still had things to say”.

The protesters seem to believe they have the power to make demands of others that they themselves would be unwilling to honor. I truly hope the universities do not cave to this childishness.

They have been catered to since birth. Why change now?

An interesting take on privilege and protest

A bit oversimplified, like everything on twitter, but with interesting insights.

quote:

Originally posted by Piano*Dad:
An interesting take on privilege and protest

A bit oversimplified, like everything on twitter, but with interesting insights.

Agreed, and thanks for posting that.

Quirt, I agree with a lot of what you write… it’s really distressing.

P*D thanks for those links.

quote:

It was clear that a small group of students and organizations developed their platform, and subsequently, the masses are being herded into following it, seemingly mindlessly and without a deep understanding of Gaza, Hamas, Israel, foreign policy, and all the relevant issues.

This has been my concern for awhile now…

BTW that symbol is absolutely vile. I’ve never seen it before. And I hope I never see it in person.

What's interesting to me is how the protest movement has taken root at some campuses but not others. Very interesting to tease out why Columbia, UCLA and UNC all have had serious and violent disturbances, but other universities have seen mostly peaceful expressions (W&M, for instance). Good fortune? Or active campus leadership that offers teaching about the conflict and other outlets for learning instead of allowing divisive indoctrination that pushes toward confrontation.

quote:

What's interesting to me is how the protest movement has taken root at some campuses but not others.

I haven’t been following the various universities closely enough, and of course places with fewer problems get less news.

But I have to imagine that the way policing is done also plays an important role. Where there have been problems, it seems like police just really escalate things.

And of course also a big factor is the way universities leaders respond, whether it seems like they’re truly listening or not, whether their public facing comments seem dishonest in light of the actions they take behind the scenes…

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:

Where there have been problems, it seems like police just really escalate things.

I haven't followed this closely so don't know specifics of what's happening on which campus. Except that some places like UT Austin seem to be trying to figure out how to create a healthy environment for dialogue between opposing sides.

Wondering if you'd care to elaborate on the view that police "just really escalate".

Well, we've been in the thick of it. We've had escalating protests throughout the past week, starting with students chanting, carrying posters, wearing keffiyeh, etc. Some were kind of obnoxious and a few were downright intimidating but overall no big deal. They wanted the university to sever ties with Israel and Boeing (Boeing because they provide equipment to Israel, was the general thinking I guess). Administrators agreed to pause activity re: Boeing and arranged for a forum where students could bring up their issues and have a discussion. (It's worth nothing that my institution has no financial investments in Boeing, but received ~150K for naming rights to a study hall, and $28K in scholarship money.) They were moved from city property (we are urban) and moved their encampments to in front of the library. Uni admin said they could remain as long as they didn't hassle students and left one entrance completely open so students could go in/out. They agreed to this.

So all was moving along until Monday, when the protests escalated. At some point in the early evening, protesters entered the library, barricaded themselves in and refused to leave. You could see into the library from certain angles to see that there was graffiti and other unspecified damage. At this point uni admin requested assistance from the Portland Police, which they received. Campus was closed. On Tuesday uni administration told those inside the library that if they left peacefully, there would be zero impact to them--no prosecution, suspension, expulsion, visa issues, etc. At this point the majority (about 50-60) left, but there were an unspecified number remaining. Campus was still closed. Thursday we hoped to reopen campus, but had to rescind that as the police were taking a cautious approach and had not yet cleared the library. Thursday morning around 6am they started to enter the library, and were able to breach the barricades by around 9am. At this point, perhaps 2 dozen protesters from inside the library broke through the recently opened entrance and ran off. Police let them go (which, in my mind, was the best thing to do). Then police went in and started to clear the building.

At that point, people were able to see what had occurred inside the library. The lower floors were totally trashed. Tables shoved into barrricades, food on the floor, fire and other safety systems destroyed, graffiti, computers smashed, networking equipment removed or destroyed, and reports of valuable collections being stolen. Everything pretty much died down at that point, until (unbelievably in my mind) about 20 protesters re-entered the library and attempted to retake it. They were all arrested and the library is now closed again.

So we are now left with a massive cleanup, the library is uninhabitable and won't be accessible for a fairly long time due to the fire/safety systems being down. Students can't use it (it's midterms here). Who knows the cost to clean it up, repair things and (potentially) assess the value of items stolen.

The kicker to me - I'd say around 75% of those arrested were not students. This is yet another case (which has been occurring everywhere) where the student protest was overtaken by outside agitators. Who knows their motivation? Political? Nihilists? Fun seekers? Beats me. But when I hear people talking about how the administration has cracked down on the poor students, it rings hollow to me.

Given the situation, I think the outcome here (at least so far) was as good as possible. Some key instigators have been arrested, there are tons of photos of others that haven't yet been apprehended, and most importantly there were reports of only a few minor injuries.

And to S/K's point - in this case the police presence escalated things but IMO the escalation was due to the protesters flipping out. I felt like the police in this case were remarkably level-headed and professional. (This has not always been the case in Portland, but it was here in my opinion.)

(I may delete this later)

You said the administration was very gentle to the group, permitting them to protest on university property as long as they confined themselves to protest and did not engage in harassment. That approach failed, apparently. Hard not to conclude that confrontation and police action was ultimately the students' goal, and the administration's initial gentle approach temporarily frustrated the group and kept it from achieving its broader objective.

Today is our last day of class. There is a big party taking place outside, in the grassy area we call the "Sunken Garden." University sponsored event ... helps keep drinking down a bit.

And per tradition, seniors ring the bell following their final class.

Just a reminder that higher education is not all doom and gloom.

Ringing the Bell

quote:

Originally posted by Piano*Dad:
You said the administration was very gentle to the group, permitting them to protest on university property as long as they confined themselves to protest and did not engage in harassment. That approach failed, apparently. Hard not to conclude that confrontation and police action was ultimately the students' goal, and the administration's initial gentle approach temporarily frustrated the group and kept it from achieving its broader objective.

Yea, that's been my take. And I would have described the situation as the protestors doing the escalation and the police responding as needed.

Nina, that absolutely awful! Destroying the library and doing all that damage helps absolutely no one, and harms students most of all.

WTG, what I was referring to is what I've seen here (and please don't quote me bc I'll probably delete this later) is unnecessary use of force against students and faculty who aren't doing anything other than refusing to leave. The protest is outside, not in a building, so it's quite different from what Nina described (for example).

The way the police forces are interacting with students does nothing to de-escalate and from what I could see only served to make things worse.

And bringing in state troopers in riot gear here was a clear, and unnecessary, escalation.

I have not seen what's happened yesterday or today (hopefully not much new!) ...

So I don't condone the militarization of the police response to student protests. But I also don't condone what Nina described, and as a scholar, damage to the library (and all the treasures contained within) is unforgivable to me.

And also just stupid. How does that help anyone?

(hint, it doesn't)

BTW re Nina's other comment, that a lot of those arrested weren't students...

I've heard rumors that there were members of both antifa and proud boys here on campus. I don't know if that's true. On the on hand, it wouldn't surprise me. On the other, I think rumors are dangerous and we should all be skeptical of them (here, I don't mean Nina)

From what I can tell, most of those arrested (I believe it's above 50 now) have been students and faculty. So how much that's happening here is due to outside influence, I have no idea.