As colleges and universities across the country begin a new academic year, many university leaders are losing sleep over the likelihood of campus unrest returning. Many are hoping to avoid the fates of some of their peers, who, throughout the past year, have found themselves unable to keep their jobs in light of disruption on their own campuses. A contentious national election, the anniversary of the October 7th Hamas attacks, and a growing wave of antisemitism in the West may mean the return of often-violent and bigoted encampments and other trouble.
The truth is that some leaders are not fearful of these incidents themselves, but of the reaction from faculty and administrators sympathetic to anti-Jewish and anti-Israel causes if they dare to act. My suggestion: Get over it or find a new job.
To be clear, not every anti-Israel protester is antisemitic or wants to wipe Israel off the map “by any means necessary.” However, for those who claim not to harbor bigotry, it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify the company they keep, given the organizers of the protests they support. As Jonathan Chait recently observed, every major anti-Israel activist group has adopted a position similar to that of the US Palestinian Community Network, which justified the October 7th attacks as “a legitimate response to unending violence.”
Many masked campus occupiers have waved the flag of terrorist organizations, harassed or attacked Jews for being Jews, or intimidated leaders of Jewish organizations like Hillel, which have nothing to do with the war in Gaza. Despite many using their anti-Zionism as a cover, the general tenor of these protests and encampments, from both students and faculty, is clearly and vociferously antisemitic. Just imagine, for instance, if faculty-supported encampments targeted any black student for exclusion except those who renounced the Black Lives Matter movement. Although not a perfect analogy, the same principle holds: True intentions are best reflected by behavior, rather than mere rhetoric.
UCLA was recently ordered by a court to prevent discriminatory encampments. The judge’s order observed, “In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith. This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that it bears repeating.” UCLA, incredibly, appealed at first and then backed down.
Some, at institutions like MIT, are distributing fliers with a map of all nearby “Jewish and Zionist organizations, synagogues, universities, businesses, schools, media outlets, and law enforcement agencies and their ostensible relationships to Israel and the US government.” If and when university administrators finally hold students accountable, the fallout tends to follow a similar pattern: Faculty exert pressure for those punishments to be reversed, then administrators yield to that pressure, and many students exhibiting reprehensible conduct escape without any consequences.
Todd Wolfson, the new president of the American Association of University Professors, has recently reversed AAUP’s longstanding policy against academic boycotts specifically to accommodate actions by faculty against Jewish and Israeli causes. This policy shift is so radical it was condemned by AAUP’s former president in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The AAUP represents just another part of a growing trend of “scholarly” organizations engaging in far-left activism. Policymakers and college presidents alike would be wise to disregard their views going forward and find new, reputable organizations to consult.
State legislators and governors have a role here too. College leaders who cannot prevent their faculty from engaging in overt bigotry or their campuses from descending into chaos should be replaced immediately. Recently, presidents from Columbia to Wisconsin-Milwaukee have stepped down after poor handling of encampments and other issues. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni is tracking the growing number of institutions adopting a policy of neutrality on controversial issues. This should be the norm, especially for public institutions.
Law enforcement should be utilized to keep the peace rather than be sent in with riot gear after it is far too late. Even the University of California System seems to be taking some steps in that direction by prohibiting encampments, restricting others’ free movement, and the use of masks to avoid being identified. Many states already have laws banning masks to conceal the identity of those harassing minority groups, originally enacted to fight the KKK. University leaders need to use these tools at their disposal.
The courts will continue to hear lawsuits and may force college leaders to do what they have often been too cowardly to do alone. As students return to campuses this fall, hopefully leaders will protect both constitutional and civil rights without a court having to force their hand. If they cannot, they should step down themselves, or institutions should find new leaders.
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