Campus activism: potential blowback on the Republicans?

I started college in the late 1970s.  Since "the 1960s" were really from about 1964-1974, there was still a lot of recognition of that period in Ann Arbor.  

As is my want, when I was in college I became interested in how colleges work and I read a lot of the literature of the time about "college student development" especially William Perry's Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years: A Scheme (book, a webpage).  Others writing along these lines included Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan.

Plus I read works like Kirkpatrick Sale's SDS and Todd Gitlin's The Whole World is Watching about "the movement."  Me and some others even brought Gitlin to campus to speak.

Perry discusses how students start at the dualism point--yes or no--move to an everything's relative position, and then, ideally, to what he called "commitment in relativism" in that you use relativistic thinking to come to a position.

Probably most university presidents aren't familiar with this literature, because I was shocked when the Penn, Harvard, and MIT presidents were grilled before Congress last November about pro-Palestinian activism on their campuses, which was pitched as anti-Semitism, that the presidents didn't reference this work ("Lawmakers question Harvard, Penn and MIT presidents on antisemitism," "The anti-college subtext to the right-wing response to Gaza protests," Washington Post). Two of the presidents ended up resigning.

Interestingly, now that I think about it, from Perry's perspective, Republicans in Congress reason dualistically, which isn't particularly sophisticated.

Roger Martin, former dean of the Rothman School of Business at the University of Toronto has a related concept called integrative thinking where people simultaneously consider multiple ideas that conflict and come up with a way to resolve them. 

In any case, you can be pro-Jew/pro-Israel, which I am, because my father was Jewish, and I remember books in our house about the Arab-Israel conflict, while recognizing at the same time that the Palestinians have a co-equal right to live, and the way that Israel treats the Palestinians is abominable.  

Sure Hamas was terrible and should be condemned, but Hamas, in effect, was created (blowback) by Israel's treatment of Palestinians.  And you can be against killing of all sorts.  I think Hamas was wrong.  And so is Israel, which has killed over 30,000 people in its war in the Gaza Strip.

I do think universities have the obligation to better integrate understanding college student development and working with students to move along the ladder of cognitive and ethical development.  Obviously that's not happening in a purposeful way in most universities, even "the best" ones.

The Columbia University president came up before Congress last week and she completely capitulated, and later asked the NYPD to remove a protest sit in student camp out staking a pro-Palestinian position ("Columbia Students Arrested Over Campus Rally May Face Other Consequences," New York Times).  

And USC told the Palestinian valedictorian that she wouldn't be able to give the traditional speech at commencement ("USC got it wrong in canceling valedictorian’s speech. Here’s what the school should do now," Los Angeles Times).  

Police officers stand near tents erected by pro-Palestinian protesters on the South Lawn at Columbia University in New York, on Thursday. C.S. MUNCY/The New York Times/Redux

Last week students were removed from an encampment at in California.

FWIW, I participated in a sit in back in the day about disinvesting from South Africa.  I'm sure the administration was indulging us, but they didn't call the police on us even though we remained in the Regents board room overnight.  

Contrast that to now sadly, as UM is considering much harsher policies ("Some concerned University of Michigan proposed policy on protests could quell free speech efforts," CBS).

I don't think students are wrong to support Palestinians.  Wrong is violence against Jews or destruction of property.  Reporting by the student newspaper at Columbia found that most of the incidents were off-campus by people not related to the university ("Rabbi advises Jewish students to ‘return home as soon as possible’ following reports of ‘extreme antisemitism’ on and around campus," Columbia Spectator).

In response to the Columbia action, students at Yale and others created tent camps supporting Columbia students and the Palestinian cause ("Students at more universities announce solidarity rallies after 108 pro-Palestinian activists are arrested at Columbia," CNN, "UM students set up encampment on Diag protesting war in Gaza," Michigan Public Radio).

Photo: A.J. Jones, Michigan Public Radio.

I wonder if this will wildcat across the country, the same way demonstrations did after students were killed at Kent State (and Jackson State) in 1970 when they were protesting against the Vietnam War  ("It began with defiance at Columbia. Now students nationwide are upping their Gaza war protests," AP).

There are protests at University of Washington today ("Student walkout: Updates as WA students protest Israel-Hamas war," Seattle Times).

However, protest has become much less effective in changing society over the years.  I don't know why exactly.  Some argue it's co-opted by elites and there's definitely truth to that.  And corporate interests are much more organized and active in protecting their interests ("The small business tyrant has a favorite political party," New York Times), "The UAW’s Chattanooga Victory: Score One for the North in Our Endless Civil War," American Prospect).

-- "How violent protest can backfire," Stanford News
-- "The end of protesting," Comment
-- "Can protests lead to meaningful changes in government policy, particularly around economic redistribution?," Brookings
-- "Do Protests Even Work," The Atlantic

Some is because back in the day there were just a few communications sources and they had disproportionate power and authority and most people read or watched them.  

But with cable television and social media and the decline of newspapers and traditional television news, effect can be dissipated, even though social media had some success wrt both Tahrir Square in Cairo and Chiapas state in Mexico.  Not to mention the development of a fabulist conservative media ecosystem.

Still, the Republican/conservative response to the Israel-Palestinian issue may in fact spark a new activism. And revive the strength of protest movements.

Although the conservatives have some advantage in that the winter term is almost over, and students would tend to go back home for the summer.

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FWIW, a lot of my peers at the time thought that activism in the 1960s had failed.  I used to respond, "the US got out of Vietnam, what do you mean?"  But definitely after the US took out the troops, the big reason or impetus for activism faded.  But at least when I was at school there were two more waves, Divestment from South Africa and then US involvement in Central America, specifically El Salvador.