Throughout American history, from the Boston Tea Party to the March on Washington, protests have always been a way for the masses to address society’s greatest issues. In today’s case, university students represent the masses, standing against the moral injustice prevalent within society, fighting for the betterment of humanity. It is not appropriate for universities to shut down student protests through extreme approaches, let alone limit their voice by any means.
The source of the students’ anger has to do with the Israel-Hamas War that began in October of 2023. Most of the war has been concentrated in an area known as the Gaza Strip– a small piece of land under heavy blockade located between Israel and Egypt– where over two million Palestineans reside, unable to escape. Of these civilians, more than 34,000 people have been killed in the conflict, their numbers still growing. These large casualties alarmed American students, leading them to call for their respective schools to cease investment in companies affiliated with Israel.
What initiated the wave of protests took place on April 17, 2024 at Columbia University, with students setting up encampments as their university president was questioned by Congress about the alleged antisemitism that arose during on-campus pro-Palestinean protests. Subsequently, city police were called and the protesters were arrested, an act requested by Columbia officials. This inappropriate response by university authorities has been seen on a nationwide scale, at equally prestigious schools such as NYU, Yale, USC, UCLA, and many more.
University officials going so far as to call the police on protests to have students arrested and detained for expressing their beliefs is an abuse of power. Allie Wong, a Columbia University student described her experience, “I was handled brutally by police alongside other students being shoved down concrete steps… they threw us in cells like animals,” though she had her hands up when approached by police, unarmed with no sign of resistance. Had the university simply allowed open discussion of the situation in Palestine, the violence and mistreatment that students received could have been prevented.
By denying students the right to protest and the right to speak freely, educational institutions directly contradict the founding principles of the United States and themselves. More specifically, Columbia’s core values include “commitment to thoughtful, rigorous debate that respects our collective rights to learn, work, and live together, free of bigotry, intimidation, and harassment,” ideals that had been clearly disregarded in their retaliation against students. This exemplifies the ignorance that officials possess, turning a blind eye to what is morally correct for the sake of shutting down what they view as an “inconvenience.”
Despite the public’s outrage toward how universities are choosing to respond to students’ actions, zero change has been implemented. Violence, abuse, and suspensions are clear signs of censorship that should not be occurring in the institutes that are supposed to nurture and educate the youth. While officials may claim to feel endangered by the “anti-semetic” agenda that protesters have been pushing through their demonstrations, it is simply not the case the students are trying to argue. In today’s world, it is more important than ever for the suppression of students’ voices to end in order for growth to occur both inside and outside of school, and it begins with reform in the way universities address public demonstrations.