Meanwhile on the International front....

After student protest at U of A, Alabama Senators support new legislation
After a pro-Palestine protest at the University of Alabama, Alabama’s senators cosponsored a bill restricting student debt forgiveness for protestors.

https://www.alreporter.com/2024/05/...ama-alabama-senators-support-new-legislation/

 

The protestors should face consequences, but this is ridiculous.

 

So are Alabama's Senators. And don't forget Tom Cotton, who introduced the “The No Bailouts for Campus Criminals Act.”

 

Captures my view on this almost perfectly.

 

I mean screw the First Amendment, amiright?

 

It is both ridiculous and the latest turn by a state government against what higher ed has become.

State colleges and universities have already been underfunded and they're going to be defunded if university leadership doesn't figure out how to adjust. These schools are stem economic engines, and here's the humanities over there (and I love humanities) often pushing nakedly one-sided political agendas that also permeate education departments and trickle down into primary schools.

Like, no, you generally can't just go to a really good state school to only learn how to build bridges, desiring that to be your life's work. They're typically not going to give you a degree to do that - no matter how good you are at it - without you having to take a selection of their humanities courses that strongly promote a specific worldview.

University leaders have to either figure out a way to unbundle those things - which would depopulate the humanities of students who have no interest in taking those courses - or balance out the humanities somehow. Otherwise, you know, 9% of the campus' faculty and about 2% of its students are going to continue to set the tone for the entire university.

 

Nakedly onesided politically. As opposed to the "you will learn it one way and only one way and you will be happier for it because there is only one perspective that you need and it came from Europe." I'll take my nakedly onesided agenda and allow people of color and other marginalized communities to have access to education and flip my middle finger at any and all who tell me to do it otherwise.

 

Alma, believe it or not, the University of Alabama isn't exactly a hotbed of radical liberalism. Students there have the First Amendment and the right to protest against policies that they disagree with.

 

Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from consequences. I'm not saying they should face legal consequences, but that doesn't protect them from actions by the schools they attend. It doesn't protect them from losing potential job opportunities later. This is part of why I have a problem with so many of them hiding their faces. If you are going to stand up for something put your name to it. Put your face to it. If you are going to break the law or violate school policies, be ready to face those consequences, too.

 

So what have the protestors done wrong? Support Palestine? You cannot be punished for that. Being a part of a protest cannot and should not be the lone criteria for punishment. Now, there are other areas you can get them on. If you have actual proof of committing antisemitic acts (saying F Israel is automatically antisemitic), maybe. If you actively damage property. OK. If you violate a lawful order, you are already being punished. But to chill speech by threatening protesters they will face consequences from the university if they speak out on a topic is against the First Amendment. If employers don't want someone who said they supported Palestine, that is a consequence. But the lone criteria for punishment by a university should not be you participated in a pro Palestine protest.

 

There are many instances of protestors disrupting events on campus, including blocking access to areas that should be open to all students. Many have been told by the schools to disperse and refused. Schools have every right to enforce their policies and procedures. Hiding their faces emboldens many of these protestors to take inappropriate actions, including anti-Jewish chants, ripping Israeli flags from the hands of counter protestors, and attempting to intimidate anyone who dares speak against them. All of those things have happened.

Hiding from consequences is the stated reason for covering their faces, but we have seen plenty of examples of them using it to help them intimidate others on campus. Do you think that is acceptable?