Protests and police on campus

[Langue_doc]

At the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, protesters wearing masks and sunglasses break into a building and order an employee to leave.

Protesters Stormed an Ex-Senator's Office and Demanded She Leave. She Refused.
Heidi Heitkamp was in her office at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics when protesters occupied the building.

Former Senator Heidi Heitkamp was sitting in her second floor office at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, preparing to  appear on a television news show on Friday afternoon, when three pro-Palestinian protesters in masks and sunglasses burst in and ordered her to leave the building.

Ms. Heitkamp, the director of the institute and the only staff member left in the building, refused to go, slowing what had apparently been an effort to take over the building, the latest tactic in demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war that have taken place on the University of Chicago campus and across the country.

"They desperately wanted me out," Ms. Heitkamp recalled. "I told them, 'I'm not going to leave. This is our building.' And I planted my feet." She added, "I'm a stubborn old woman."

Ms. Heitkamp, who represented North Dakota as a Democrat in the Senate, said she tried to engage in a dialogue with the protesters about their goals and why they had targeted the institute, even as she heard others smashing furniture in other rooms.

"I was trying to find common ground," she said. "They kept saying, 'Aren't you worried about your safety?'"

The confrontation ended, she said, when campus police officers suddenly arrived and some protesters, who had brought a supply of bagels and water to last for an extended period, fled out of windows.

Jeremy Manier, a university spokesman, said in a statement that protesters had tried to block the building's entrance, damaged property and ignored orders from law enforcement officials to leave.

Mr. Axelrod and Ms. Heitkamp issued a statement later in the day, "We recognize protest as a time-honored part of the democratic process. But the occupation of buildings, destruction of property and impingement on the rights of others are not."

Whatever happened to "safe spaces" on campus and "trigger warnings"? They seem so outdated.

[secundem_artem]

It's been politically very quiet at Artem U.  Today was commencement.  No organized protests or storming the stage, but a fair few unapproved Palestine themed stoles.  Very few of which were on students who were observant Muslims and wearing hijab.  But Megan, Morgan, Becki, and Caitlin made their point.  The only outcome they achieved was making a number of our Jewish graduating students hurt and uncomfortable. 

[Wahoo Redux]

It's been politically very quiet at Artem U.  Today was commencement.  No organized protests or storming the stage, but a fair few unapproved Palestine themed stoles.  Very few of which were on students who were observant Muslims and wearing hijab.  But Megan, Morgan, Becki, and Caitlin made their point.  The only outcome they achieved was making a number of our Jewish graduating students hurt and uncomfortable. 

There will never be a protest which does not upset someone.  That is why people protest.  I wasn't there, of course, but I would never have students, Jewish or otherwise, feel hurt and uncomfortable at any point, certainly not commencement.  Nevertheless, Israel has some actions and beliefs they need to be held accountable for.  Palestine deserves some support even while Hamas needs to be quashed. It sounds to me that Megan, Morgan, Becki, and Caitlin were fairly responsible protestors while making their point.

[ciao_yall]

It's been politically very quiet at Artem U.  Today was commencement.  No organized protests or storming the stage, but a fair few unapproved Palestine themed stoles.  Very few of which were on students who were observant Muslims and wearing hijab.  But Megan, Morgan, Becki, and Caitlin made their point.  The only outcome they achieved was making a number of our Jewish graduating students hurt and uncomfortable. 

There will never be a protest which does not upset someone.  That is why people protest.  I wasn't there, of course, but I would never have students, Jewish or otherwise, feel hurt and uncomfortable at any point, certainly not commencement.  Nevertheless, Israel has some actions and beliefs they need to be held accountable for.  Palestine deserves some support even while Hamas needs to be quashed. It sounds to me that Megan, Morgan, Becki, and Caitlin were fairly responsible protestors while making their point.

As long as certain Jewish people continue to insist on conflating concerns about the action of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism, well, maybe they should reflect on why they feel "hurt and uncomfortable."

I'm Jewish and have no problem separating my mixed feeling about how Zionism was implemented with compassion for the Palestinian people.

[apl68]

[. . .]

You should be protesting outside the offices of our law makers (the governor and the NYS Senator) as well as the Israeli embassies (country and UN) in the city.

[. . .]

But that would require taxi/bus fare.

From the NYT article "It's Not Just Gaza" linked above: "she connects the suffering of Gazans to the plight of other oppressed people worldwide." This person seems to be very badly educated, and I'd like to see whether she can locate Gaza or any other part of the Middle East on a map. It's highly ignorant to believe that every situation in the world that one disagrees with has the same identical cause. The attitude reminds me of an Al Jazeera program host's interview with three Americans that I saw a few months ago. One of the guests said "Revolution is the highest form of culture." Dude, you are completely clueless about what both of those words really mean.

I saw a recent NYT column by Ross Douthat which suggested that part of the problem was that students at these elite schools have essentially been taught that everything evil in the world comes down to settler colonialism and the like, and so they can only see world events that can be made to fit into that paradigm.  Hence their lack of concern about what's happening in Sudan, etc.

[Hibush]

For Columbia Univesity in particular, the uniquely bad police violence was instigated by outside agitators in the business community, who called the NYC mayor to have polcie come to campus and bash heads. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/16/business-leaders-chat-group-eric-adams-columbia-protesters/

A university administration needs to stand against that type of invasion. It takes special awareness to recognize the "business leaders" in this role. It is not that uncommon for the police to be used by the powerful to suppress dissent and accountability, even in the US. That is what was happening at Columbia.

[Langue_doc]

For Columbia Univesity in particular, the uniquely bad police violence was instigated by outside agitators in the business community, who called the NYC mayor to have polcie come to campus and bash heads. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/16/business-leaders-chat-group-eric-adams-columbia-protesters/

A university administration needs to stand against that type of invasion. It takes special awareness to recognize the "business leaders" in this role. It is not that uncommon for the police to be used by the powerful to suppress dissent and accountability, even in the US. That is what was happening at Columbia.

Scroll down to see the protestors with their faces and heads covered use a hammer to break a glass window so that they could enter the building.

[Langue_doc]

Dartmouth's President Is Censured by Faculty Over Protest Actions
The president, Sian Leah Beilock, called in the police just hours after a pro-Palestinian encampment went up on campus. A bystander and a professor were injured.[/quote

From the article:

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Dartmouth College voted on Monday to censure the university's president, Sian Leah Beilock, over her decision to summon the police to remove a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus, calling her action harmful to the community and disruptive to the university's educational mission.

The censure motion was adopted by a vote of 183 to 163, according to Justin Anderson, a spokesman for Dartmouth.

The close vote illustrated the division on campus over Dr. Beilock's decision on May 1, made just hours after the encampment had been erected on the college green. At the meeting, Dr. Beilock defended her actions, saying that she believed there was a reasonable and credible threat of violence.

In a statement, the university noted that a censure vote had no practical effect. And the chair of Dartmouth's board, Liz Lempres, applauded Dr. Beilock for her "strong leadership" in nearly impossible circumstances. "The board unequivocally and unanimously supports President Beilock," she said in a statement.

Eighty-nine people were arrested, including two faculty members, as the police moved in to clear the encampment this month. One faculty member, Annelise Orleck, a labor historian, was knocked to the ground as she tried to grab her phone from a police officer.

It's never a good idea to grab anything from a police officer, let alone approach one when asked to leave the premises.

In other news,

After Anti-Israel Speeches, a Law School Curtails Graduation Traditions
CUNY Law School is known for its diversity and activism, and lately for strongly worded pro-Palestinian commencement addresses. This year, the administration canceled its annual student speech.

The first few paragraphs from the article:

For the past two years, commencement speakers at the City University of New York School of Law have made support for Palestinians and opposition to Israel a focus of their speeches.

The backlash was intense.

So this year, well before other campuses across the United States faced upheaval over pro-Palestinian student demonstrations, the CUNY law school administration took a new tack. In September, before the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the school announced that there would be no student speaker at all at this year's commencement ceremony.

The choice is now drawing its own backlash and has brought more controversy to the event.

This spring, several students at the school sued university officials, saying that the school was suppressing speech and infringing on their First Amendment rights by not allowing a student-elected speaker to give an address. Two guests who had been scheduled to speak — Deborah N. Archer, a civil rights lawyer and president of the American Civil Liberties Union, and Muhammad U. Faridi, a litigator — recently withdrew from the event.

The ceremony will now have no outside speakers and no keynote address, the law school said.

The plot thickens; campus talks, professors, and students are under scrutiny, according to an article in The Gothamist.

[Langue_doc]

In House Hearing, Republicans Demand Discipline for Student Protesters
Leaders of Northwestern, U.C.L.A. and Rutgers, drawing lessons from prior hearings, sought to avoid enraging either the Republicans on the committee or members of their own institutions.

University Leaders Face a Long, Complex Summer
Many officials may be confronting federal investigations, disputes over student discipline — and the prospect that the protests start all over again in the fall.

Students Walk Out in Protest at Harvard Commencement
Anger at the university's decision to bar 13 seniors from the ceremony in the wake of campus demonstrations over the war in Gaza was a flashpoint for the protest on Thursday.

[Langue_doc]

In today's NYT:

Harvard Says It Will No Longer Take Positions on Matters Outside of the University
The policy could ease pressure on the school to issue statements on current events. Officials were criticized for their handling of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

The Battle Over College Speech Will Outlive the Encampments
For the first time since the Vietnam War, university demonstrations have led to a rethinking of who sets the terms for language in academia.

[marshwiggle]

In today's NYT:

Harvard Says It Will No Longer Take Positions on Matters Outside of the University
The policy could ease pressure on the school to issue statements on current events. Officials were criticized for their handling of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

The Battle Over College Speech Will Outlive the Encampments
For the first time since the Vietnam War, university demonstrations have led to a rethinking of who sets the terms for language in academia.

Halle-FRIGGIN-luyah!

[apl68]

In today's NYT:

Harvard Says It Will No Longer Take Positions on Matters Outside of the University
The policy could ease pressure on the school to issue statements on current events. Officials were criticized for their handling of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

This is normal policy for libraries.  Performing our role in the community means keeping the trust of all segments of the community, which means not needlessly offending some of them by taking stances on issues where our stance wouldn't really make a meaningful difference anyway.  The American Library Association has in recent years kept getting activist leaders who forget this.  I recall last year librarians in our state, and doubtless others, pleading with the ALA's leadership not to adopt any resolutions condemning Israel that would end up tarring us by association.

[jimbogumbo]

An argument against ever divesting: https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2024/05/28/case-against-any-divestment-ever-opinion

[Langue_doc]

Fetterman jumps into the fray by tearing off his Harvard hood during his commencement speech.

He seems to be keeping his Harvard degree though. So much grandstanding--by dramatically whipping off his hood instead of returning his degree he gets to eat his cake and keep it too.

Most of the articles are behind paywalls
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/fetterman-harvard-hood-protest-yeshiva-20240530.html
https://nypost.com/2024/05/29/us-news/sen-john-fetterman-dramatically-whips-off-harvard-hood-at-yeshiva-university-commencement/

[treeoflife]

It took them a while but they finally got it. The virtue signaling so popular on campuses and the commitment to diversity limited to race and gender but not political opinions has a price in enrollment and in the case of publicly funded Universities taxpayers' support.   

In today's NYT:

Harvard Says It Will No Longer Take Positions on Matters Outside of the University
The policy could ease pressure on the school to issue statements on current events. Officials were criticized for their handling of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

The Battle Over College Speech Will Outlive the Encampments
For the first time since the Vietnam War, university demonstrations have led to a rethinking of who sets the terms for language in academia.

Halle-FRIGGIN-luyah!