College administrators across the country would be wise to follow the example set by Florida’s universities last week in dealing with the anti-Israel student protests on their own campuses. The Tallahassee Democrat reported that Florida State University campus police, citing FSU regulation 2.007, which “prohibits camping on university lands,” made students “take down a handful of tents that were set up for a mere five minutes.” Later on, when students began chanting pro-Hamas slogans, the underground sprinkler system abruptly activated, putting a real damper on the rally.
In a statement, FSU spokeswoman Amy Farnum-Patronis said, “As an educational institution, Florida State University welcomes free inquiry, diverse thought and rigorous debate. However, these expressions must comply with university regulation and the law.”
At the University of Florida, administrators threatened students who violated rules of protest behavior with “suspension and banishment from campus for three years” and “said employees or professors caught breaking its rules would be fired.”
UF’s Division of Student Life circulated a list of allowable and prohibited behaviors. “Speech,” “expressing viewpoints,” and “holding signs in hands” were permitted. However, “camping or use of tents,” “blocking anyone’s path,” the use of bullhorns, the possession of weapons, and protesting inside of buildings were not.
What a novel concept — alerting students of the rules and apprising them of the consequences should they be broken. Perhaps this show of leadership is why the protests in Florida have been contained while those in blue states from New York to California have spiraled out of control, even giving the protesters the upper hand.
Northwestern University in Illinois, for example, announced on Monday they had reached an agreement with student protesters. First, the university agreed to provide full disclosure of its investments. They also pledged to “support visiting Palestinian faculty and students at risk (funding two faculty per year for two years; and providing full cost of attendance for five Palestinian undergraduates to attend Northwestern for the duration of their undergraduate careers). The University commits to fundraise to sustain this program beyond this current commitment.” Additionally, they promised to “provide immediate temporary space for MENA/Muslim students.”
The next day, Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island, followed suit. Among other concessions, administrators agreed to divest from Israel.
On Tuesday, the College Democrats of America, the youth outreach arm of the Democratic National Committee, put out a statement expressing their solidarity with the anti-Israel protesters whose actions they called “heroic.”
The statement said the protesters and “students from every walk of life have had the moral clarity to see this war for what it is: destructive, genocidal, and unjust.”
The group was extremely critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the war. “The White House has taken the mistaken route of a bear hug strategy for [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and a cold shoulder strategy for its own base and all Americans who want to see an end to this war. Each day that Democrats fail to stand united for a permanent ceasefire, two-state solution, and recognition of a Palestinian state, more and more youth find themselves disillusioned with the party.”
Of course, the student protesters have not just been advocating a permanent ceasefire in Gaza or a two-state solution. Many have actively celebrated Hamas and other terrorist organizations whose goal is the complete eradication of the Jewish state.
But no matter. Apparently this antisemitism is not only being sanctioned, but rewarded by the administrators at America’s most elite universities. Why are these schools allowing pro-Hamas students and their professional agitator overlords to trample the civil rights of Jewish students and faculty members with impunity and to dictate the terms of settlements?
The radicalization of academia that has been building for decades has now reached a fever pitch. The propaganda being spread throughout the country by Hamas and the powerful, deep-pocketed entities who support them has brought the U.S. to a tipping point.
The American experiment is dependent on our adherence to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. A democratic republic cannot long survive when one group decides it’s OK to openly violate the civil rights of another group while the government allows it to continue.
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Unfortunately, at a time when we need strong and steady leadership the most, we have President Joe Biden at the helm. And sadly, he is more interested in winning the votes of young Americans and Muslims than in establishing law and order.
At this perilous time, it’s worth recalling the prescient warning from President Ronald Reagan, which may have sounded hyperbolic at the time he uttered it: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner, Power Line, and AFNN, and she is a fellow at the Heritage Foundation Academy. She is a past contributor to RedState, Newsmax, the Western Journal, and Bongino.com. Her articles have appeared on RealClearPolitics, MSN, the Federalist, and many other sites. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.