I continued to visit questions about activism in relation to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and the continuing war between Israel and Hamas over the last year. As campuses open for the 2024-25 academic year, activism on these two topics is likely to continue and may accelerate and spread to other issues. Although proposed as competencies that college presidents should possess in order to handle current campus dynamics, the ability to build trust, resilience, communications savvy, team building, emotional intelligence, courage, and resource management are likely to be helpful more broadly.
Interest in the U.S. Presidential election in academic circles rose to a new level when President Biden stepped aside to make way for VP Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party nominee. The stark contrast of possible Harris v. Trump presidencies has animated younger voters, a dynamic that may be a deciding factor in the election. Central to the difference is Trump's accusations about border security and what he declares as a failure of the Biden/Harris administration. Immigration is clearly a mobilization tactic among Trump supporters and campuses need to add to their list some way of portraying and educating students about immigration over history and in the present day.
Activism is dependent on campuses being able to create a culture of free expression. While recent reports indicate tensions about student speech, 70% of students indicate that they are comfortable in expressing their views. The American College Student Freedom, Progress, and Flourishing Study examined perceptions of viewpoint diversity, how college shapes students' learning, capitalism and socialism, and the Israel v. Hamas war. As an indicator that tolerance for different views is fragile, the report found that 71% support reporting professors for offensive comments and 56% support reporting fellow students, these percentages down only 3% from the previous assessment.
The Heritage Foundation launched a new rating system to serve conservative students and families in selecting colleges "prioritizing freedom, opportunity and civil society." The rankings, using a green and red light signal as indication, placed New College of Florida at the top and Harvard at the bottom. The red light institutions presumably "exhibit a pervasive hostility toward diverse viewpoints and lack robust core curricular requirements." Unveiled divisive activism such as this are likely to drive students with different political perspectives even further down their rabbit holes.
Creating a climate that supports the free expression of diverse views is challenging, as demonstrated in this compilation of cases. Research conducted by FIRE documented increasing partisanship and difficulty in expressing opinions, specifically related to the Hamas v. Israel war. Preparing the campus through new student seminars, such as that of USC, could help. Campus decisions related to October 7 as a 1-year anniversary of the Hamas attack could be challenging. The University of Maryland chose to allow only University-sponsored events rather than risk what would happen if protest groups staged events to observe the anniversary. Maryland's decision was criticized for limiting pro-Palestinian expression as well as other forms of dissent. Professors at Harvard protested new policies against chalking and other expressive acts as inhibiting free expression.
The University of Michigan student government is withholding student activities fee allocation in order to pressure the University to divest from support of Israel. This is a new strategy that could take hold at other campuses. If it does, it could become a new spark for pro-Israel groups to claim anti-Semitism as well as serve as fodder for criticizing the liberal take-over of institutions. Arrests at Michigan's activities fair and disruption of Pomona's opening convocation by pro-Palestinian demonstrators are examples of the variety of ways campuses may experience protests. Two Columbia University demonstrators were arrested when they protested at the main gates to the campus. continuing their focus on divestment, a strategy that appears thus far to be having little impact on most campuses. Chapman University rejected divestment demands bu the resignation of a Brown University board member over the prospect of a divestment vote demonstrates that in some cases, protest pressure works.
Higher education in Gaza has been effectively destroyed. Protests among Israeli universities demanding that the government negotiate for a cease fire and return of hostages has seriously impacted educational progress there as well.
Litigation accusing numerous institutions of tolerating anti-Semitism will be visible in the media. Columbia University is particularly visible, especially after an internal task force report alleged "serious and pervasive problems." The focus of these efforts is to draw attention to presumed illiberal progressivism that is asserted to have become dominant in higher education.
New York Governor Hochul called private and public university representatives together to prepare for the potential of continuing campus unrest. With New York centered due to the demonstrations at Columbia and the diversity of the state's population, it may become a bell-weather indicator for other state officials. There is much to be said for advanced preparation that focuses on deescalation at the same time that it maintains a commitment to free expression.
