Is it the Protesters or the University that Have Lost Their Way?

Most universities seem to be in the rut of believing it won't happen here. However, there's much universities can do to assist their students, more than simply allowing campus protests without rules.

The belief that student protests are benign and sacrosanct demonstrations of free speech is widespread, but so is the belief that unruly children should be put in their place. However, while protests exhibit free speech, they are often purveyors of nonsensical speech and unnecessary violence. No matter what you might believe about campus protests and despite forms of protest that have contributed to improvements in our lives, student protests on university campuses have detracted from the quality of campus and community life as much or more than they have contributed to it. Because of this, we must investigate the possibility of alternatives to the seemingly spontaneous development of student-on-campus marches and encampments.

When thinking outside the box, why not prepare ahead of time for a possible protest? Indeed, the preparation itself would be a learning experience, and that's what the universities are all about. As many universities have taken upon themselves a business model, they believe that courses taught by professors with many after-class entertainment facilities make for a good university. What if some of the after-class activities involved helping students who want to take part in the running of the world? Universities could provide a space for students to formulate and exchange ideas they wish to support. The essential part of such exercises would be to challenge and refine those ideas within a setting, allowing them to rework and improve them before they take action.

Universities could facilitate the discussion and debate on various positions submitted by students, either written or as videos, with some assistance from faculty familiar with the particular student's area of concern. Such facilitation would include times and places where others could discuss the pros and cons of those ideas. This could be in a particular debate area, such as a room, an online forum, or both.

A center for the exchange of ideas could provide a tremendous learning experience. It certainly would have been helpful with the present protests, which seem more informed by the Hamas cult’s emphasis on defunding Israel than the concerns of many protestors for the humane treatment of the people of Gaza.

The whole atmosphere of the university could be set up from the beginning of the semester, where, at registration, students could sign an agreement not to protest on campus and to make the campus a safe place. The agreement would also include that the debates would be about data, including the history of issues, rather than name-calling and physical violence. The universities could expend every effort to facilitate the discussions, including offering printing and other forms of duplication of written and video materials to be distributed on campus and possibly online.

Student government could be involved in creating the rules and regulations governing the facilities and conducting the debates. Indeed, there could be many variations on how this could be performed, and universities could track different models at other universities to find what might work best for their particular needs

The goal is not just to prevent violent and nonsensical protests but also include a substantial educational element emanating from the debates that would not otherwise be there. Granted, some students could not care less about this situation; however, many would be very happy to have the opportunity to debate when they felt like it and skip when they didn't.

Part of the debates could be action plans that actually aim at achievable goals with achievable actions. This would be dominated by student input and carried out off-campus. The campus would remain a safe place for everyone, regardless of their opinion or lack thereof.

Furthermore, this debate model would make it impossible for students to rally against the administration and hold it hostage to their demands. Nor would intimidation of anyone on campus be permissible as the rules would provide sanctions such as possible dismissal from the university.

Nevertheless, if, despite all these procedures and facilities to deal with student concerns, some students turned to protests on campus, police would be brought in immediately to restore order. However, such demonstrations would be very unlikely to occur, and if they did, the instigators would probably not be students from that university.

Developing a center for debate would increase the breadth of topics addressed, making students much better informed. Consequently, students would make better decisions, as they would have taken the time to learn more about the issues that concern them.

In sum, I suggest that universities take proactive steps to improve student education and the quality of campus life. This would also bring the university's focus back to comprehensive education. It would also remove a central cause of poor relations with the communities where they are located and reduce tensions over actions that universities might otherwise have to address with upset alums and other potential funding contributors.