Protests on college campuses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Americans are not stupid. They reject what these entitled brats are doing.

First, Harvard Harris polls are done by an extreme right group, not Harvard. Second, they are crap because they write questions that assume the answers they want, rather than being neutrally worded. For example, almost no one supports ‘“violent antisemitism”, but most of these protests are not violent and are anti Zionist, not anti semester. I’ve seen a similar poll where the binary question was “support Israel or Hama”. Again, almost no one supports Hamas. They support innocent civilians in Gaza, who do not belong to Hamas.

Now, I would be interested in neutrally worded polls from a responsible and respected pollster.

The people in Gaza support Hamas. If they didn't they would have had mass arrests following the attack on Israel.

IDK. From 2026-2020, I was an American— and a Fed at that— who didn’t support Trump. If you’re and American, have you supported both Biden and Trump? You don’t always get the political leaders you want.

[Anonymous]

Man …the universities are way over reacting. I really do not know what the administrations are thinking or why they are so pro Israel, pro Jewish and racists.

It is time to remove college and university presidents with people who are American and not these pro Israel types.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If these spoiled students and professors are so concerned for Gaza, why don’t they fly over to here and put their boots on the ground and help? Surely that would be more effective than screaming and holding up a cardboard sign on the campuses of their gilded overpriced colleges.

^^^
Fly over there

WTF? You think the most effective way to protest this is to fly to a war zone and offer yourself up as fodder for more Israeli air strikes.

WTF is wrong with you?

Yes, their constant tantrums ("protesting") are really doing a lot to help Palestinians. So effective.
DP

So odd all the right wing types that have a gun fetish and want students to be able to carry ARs openly and/on campuses (which many people find extremely threatening). But want to shut down 1A protests. There is a strong line of SCOTUS cases about what is and is not allowable. Targeting kids because you think they support the wrong side is not. Neither is uncomfortable speech or even hateful speech. Actual threats and violence are not permissible and should be swiftly dealt with. But only supporting protests that you agree with kinda missed the point of protests.


That said, I tell my own college kids that the best way to make change to be an engaged and informed voter. And if they are not informing themselves about issues and voting in every election, joining a protest movement is hypocritical.

But in general? The US needs fewer apathetic citizens. Sure, these kids are idealistic. But as they grow up, their views will become more nuanced. And for the good of this country, I hope this generation remains engaged.

Actual threats and violence and taking over private buildings

Also, these aren’t children, they are voting age adults and should be treated as such.

Yes. Taking over a building is a violent act and should not be tolerated. It is clearly way, way over the line. But it only happened at Columbia after two really short sighted heavy handed actions against protestors. The point is— it didn’t have to get this far. And that these mega university presidents act like they have zero idea as to how to work with college kids. Because they don’t.

You are incorrect. Mob took over campus building in California two days ago.

Columbia. This post was about Columbia. Focus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Man …the universities are way over reacting. I really do not know what the administrations are thinking or why they are so pro Israel, pro Jewish and racists.

It is time to remove college and university presidents with people who are American and not these pro Israel types.

Um, what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Man …the universities are way over reacting. I really do not know what the administrations are thinking or why they are so pro Israel, pro Jewish and racists.

It is time to remove college and university presidents with people who are American and not these pro Israel types.

You sound like a sicko. The protestors on these campuses - who are now breaking into building and occupying them - are not “Americans.” They are radicalized Hamas sympathizers who don’t belong in the west. We don’t want them or their extremism. Gen Z has been fed a bag of sh*t likening everything to an oppressed vs oppressors narrative.

[Anonymous]

The mob in Columbia have already broken multiple criminal statutes: breaking and entering, assault, holding maintenance workers hostage. All on video currently being distributed widely by social media.

[Anonymous]

Why are all these clowns yammering on about first amendment rights?
First amendment rights don’t apply to protestors destroying private universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long story short, it is the right of American citizens to protest, if it doesn’t suit a certain narrative then it’s not their problem. If these kids want to protest, then they have every right to do so, there is a big Zionist lobby that has tried to control every opinion and aspect of this conflict since 10/7 and anyone not agreeing with Israel is promptly labeled antisemitic. Frankly, it’s nauseating.

It is their right. But their pro-Hamas protests win no hearts or minds.

The right wingers and administrators who are siccing the cops on them aren’t winning any hearts and minds either.

They are breaking the law by violently protesting, accosting police, and trespassing. Yet you think there should be no consequences? Of course you do. This is why normal, sane people think you are crazy.

This started with a bunch of dumb college kids camping in tents holding signs. The administration could have just ignored them and let them be stupid. They overreacted and made this a power game.

+1. It’s like University Presidents are CEOs with no actual understanding of college kids.

I talked to my college kid (on a so far protest free campus, thank goodness) last weekend. They were having trouble with a housemate’s behavior. And I reminded them that we weren’t in September, when a permanent solution to the behavior was needed to avoid an unpleasant school year. Instead, a light touch and keeping the peach for 10 days would get them through finals and that they weren’t scheduled to room with that person next year.

Columbia’s President kow-towed to the extreme right in Congress, because they had cancelled prior university presidents. And then followed through by dealing with theColumbia protestors with a heavy hand *from a war room in DC* with no attempts to deescalate or contain the protestors first. And it backfired bigly. Anyone who actual knows college kids could have told her that would happen. She massively over reacted, and there was a backlash.

There is an alternative universe where she ignored the students and dealt with any specific behaviors that were actually violent or threatening (as opposed to expressing a distasteful viewpoint or being annoying, which is the point of protest and is protected under 1A). Had professors flunk kids who didn’t show up for finals. And issued trespassing citations and cut off campus building key card access for kids who were not off campus within 24-48 hours after their last final (the rule at my kids college). And most of the kids would have dispersed before commencement.

Then she doubled down on what didn’t work yesterday, and now they took over a campus building.

It’s like she had no understanding of college kids and is a Fortune 500 CEO primarily there to make donors happy and have an occasional orchestrated photo op with students. Because that’s what she is.

I have no idea why she did not just ignore them as group until the end of the semester, discipline only bad actors, and wait for summer DP vacation, when everyone could take a breath and calm down.

Stupid. What she did was stupid. Divorced from the reality of how 18-22 year olds think annd operate. And seemed designed to cause more problems than it solved.

I agree with a lot of this. But two extra points: the place where the encampment occupied yesterday is the site of commencement, which takes weeks of preparation. Either the encampment or commencement needs to move, immediately. And also, these tent cities, these encampments, are, either unintentionally or by design, are particularly offensive the way they resemble the current, intractable, homeless tent cities occupying cities all over the country. Cities are grappling with how to properly deal with homeless tent cities amid conflicting laws, safety, compassion, and irate citizens. And now students are doing it too? They may not realize exactly how negatively tent encampments may be perceived.

Occupying the commencement location is an actual problem, and an alternative site should be provided.

Demonstrating in an offensive manner isn’t illegal and is a core tenant of 1A. I’m a lawyer, and I firmly believe in our constitutional rights— all of them— not just the ones that involve guns. In this country you get to be offensive. And after 7 year of “F—- your feelings,” I would think the right would get that. The red hat brigade is offensive and triggering to me. Does not mean they should be punished, or even removed from the restaurant, park or campus where I am. Instead, I need to act like an adult and ignore them. Pitching a temper tantrum every time I see a F—- Biden sign or red hat just plays into MAGA’s hands.

So stop being snowflakes. And ignore the protestors unless they are actually violent or threatening. Not give you the bad feels. Engaging in illegal behavior.

Is violently breaking into buildings not illegal behavior? Not allowing Jewish students to pass by to get to class is not harassment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Americans are not stupid. They reject what these entitled brats are doing.

First, Harvard Harris polls are done by an extreme right group, not Harvard. Second, they are crap because they write questions that assume the answers they want, rather than being neutrally worded. For example, almost no one supports ‘“violent antisemitism”, but most of these protests are not violent and are anti Zionist, not anti semester. I’ve seen a similar poll where the binary question was “support Israel or Hama”. Again, almost no one supports Hamas. They support innocent civilians in Gaza, who do not belong to Hamas.

Now, I would be interested in neutrally worded polls from a responsible and respected pollster.

The people in Gaza support Hamas. If they didn't they would have had mass arrests following the attack on Israel.

IDK. From 2026-2020, I was an American— and a Fed at that— who didn’t support Trump. If you’re and American, have you supported both Biden and Trump? You don’t always get the political leaders you want.

Then you obviously didn’t feel strongly enough about it or you would have quit your job and refused to work in his administration.

If you were a German who worked for the government in 1939, you were a Nazi. Same thing here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long story short, it is the right of American citizens to protest, if it doesn’t suit a certain narrative then it’s not their problem. If these kids want to protest, then they have every right to do so, there is a big Zionist lobby that has tried to control every opinion and aspect of this conflict since 10/7 and anyone not agreeing with Israel is promptly labeled antisemitic. Frankly, it’s nauseating.

It is their right. But their pro-Hamas protests win no hearts or minds.

The right wingers and administrators who are siccing the cops on them aren’t winning any hearts and minds either.

They are breaking the law by violently protesting, accosting police, and trespassing. Yet you think there should be no consequences? Of course you do. This is why normal, sane people think you are crazy.

This started with a bunch of dumb college kids camping in tents holding signs. The administration could have just ignored them and let them be stupid. They overreacted and made this a power game.

+1. It’s like University Presidents are CEOs with no actual understanding of college kids.

I talked to my college kid (on a so far protest free campus, thank goodness) last weekend. They were having trouble with a housemate’s behavior. And I reminded them that we weren’t in September, when a permanent solution to the behavior was needed to avoid an unpleasant school year. Instead, a light touch and keeping the peach for 10 days would get them through finals and that they weren’t scheduled to room with that person next year.

Columbia’s President kow-towed to the extreme right in Congress, because they had cancelled prior university presidents. And then followed through by dealing with theColumbia protestors with a heavy hand *from a war room in DC* with no attempts to deescalate or contain the protestors first. And it backfired bigly. Anyone who actual knows college kids could have told her that would happen. She massively over reacted, and there was a backlash.

There is an alternative universe where she ignored the students and dealt with any specific behaviors that were actually violent or threatening (as opposed to expressing a distasteful viewpoint or being annoying, which is the point of protest and is protected under 1A). Had professors flunk kids who didn’t show up for finals. And issued trespassing citations and cut off campus building key card access for kids who were not off campus within 24-48 hours after their last final (the rule at my kids college). And most of the kids would have dispersed before commencement.

Then she doubled down on what didn’t work yesterday, and now they took over a campus building.

It’s like she had no understanding of college kids and is a Fortune 500 CEO primarily there to make donors happy and have an occasional orchestrated photo op with students. Because that’s what she is.

I have no idea why she did not just ignore them as group until the end of the semester, discipline only bad actors, and wait for summer DP vacation, when everyone could take a breath and calm down.

Stupid. What she did was stupid. Divorced from the reality of how 18-22 year olds think annd operate. And seemed designed to cause more problems than it solved.

I agree with a lot of this. But two extra points: the place where the encampment occupied yesterday is the site of commencement, which takes weeks of preparation. Either the encampment or commencement needs to move, immediately. And also, these tent cities, these encampments, are, either unintentionally or by design, are particularly offensive the way they resemble the current, intractable, homeless tent cities occupying cities all over the country. Cities are grappling with how to properly deal with homeless tent cities amid conflicting laws, safety, compassion, and irate citizens. And now students are doing it too? They may not realize exactly how negatively tent encampments may be perceived.

Occupying the commencement location is an actual problem, and an alternative site should be provided.

Demonstrating in an offensive manner isn’t illegal and is a core tenant of 1A. I’m a lawyer, and I firmly believe in our constitutional rights— all of them— not just the ones that involve guns. In this country you get to be offensive. And after 7 year of “F—- your feelings,” I would think the right would get that. The red hat brigade is offensive and triggering to me. Does not mean they should be punished, or even removed from the restaurant, park or campus where I am. Instead, I need to act like an adult and ignore them. Pitching a temper tantrum every time I see a F—- Biden sign or red hat just plays into MAGA’s hands.

So stop being snowflakes. And ignore the protestors unless they are actually violent or threatening. Not give you the bad feels. Engaging in illegal behavior.

Is violently breaking into buildings not illegal behavior? Not allowing Jewish students to pass by to get to class is not harassment?

There was also a maintenance man fighting off a protestor. He just happened to be working in the building last night when the mob broke in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The protests are not only on the campuses of USC and Columbia. In the DC region, GWU's encampment with area colleges and universities' students joining in at DC/GWU campus. What effect if any will this have? Many have compared '23+'24 to the 60s/Vietnam.

News Flash:
Except this time so-called protesters are funded and directed by Democrat billionaires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Man …the universities are way over reacting. I really do not know what the administrations are thinking or why they are so pro Israel, pro Jewish and racists.

It is time to remove college and university presidents with people who are American and not these pro Israel types.

You sound like a sicko. The protestors on these campuses - who are now breaking into building and occupying them - are not “Americans.” They are radicalized Hamas sympathizers who don’t belong in the west. We don’t want them or their extremism. Gen Z has been fed a bag of sh*t likening everything to an oppressed vs oppressors narrative.

+ a million
These college administrators have not reacted ENOUGH. They set a red line, then ignored it.
Round up these lawbreakers, arrest them, charge them, and make sure they suffer the consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cut the electricity and water to the building.

The mob has also blocked the entry/exit points. Eventually they will surrender.

Police are able to tell exactly who is in the building based on their phones.

They should be treated as "fairly" as the J6 defendants.

Agreed. I'm somewhere in that moderate political spectrum range, and the applicable law should be applied to these trespassers. I bet many/most across the political spectrum agree.

[Anonymous]

GW is $90,000 a year.

Imagine being a parent, turn on the news, and there’s your kid barricaded and about to be arrested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The mob in Columbia have already broken multiple criminal statutes: breaking and entering, assault, holding maintenance workers hostage. All on video currently being distributed widely by social media.

Is this part true because I had not heard of that. I think they should be arrested and prosecuted for breaking and entering. I had January 6 flashback. Both groups are different sides of the same coin.