{"id":67,"date":"2025-05-10T10:03:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T10:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/?p=67"},"modified":"2025-05-26T14:46:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T14:46:38","slug":"shall-make-no-law-polarized-campus-politics-and-the-illusion-of-academic-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/shall-make-no-law-polarized-campus-politics-and-the-illusion-of-academic-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Shall Make No Law: Polarized Campus Politics and the Illusion of Academic Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Protests at NYU on April 22, 2024 (Samson Tu, Washington Square News).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a Saturday evening in March, Mahmoud Khalil and his wife, Noor Abdalla, went out for dinner. Abdalla, 28, is a Midwest-born dentist expecting her first child with Khalil, age 30, a Syrian-born Palestinian studying at Columbia University. The couple returned to their home on the university\u2019s campus only to be met with agents from the Department of Homeland Security. Agents arrested Khalil without presenting a warrant, threatening to take his wife into custody as well if she tried to remain by his side. He was left to sleep on the cold floors of a detention center in New York, then another in New Jersey, before he was transferred to an ICE facility in Louisiana, where he awaits deportation proceedings. While in custody, he missed the birth of he and Abdalla\u2019s first child.<\/span><\/p>\n

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) published a <\/span>letter <\/span><\/a>dictated by Khalil over the phone from the detention center. In his <\/span>Letter from a Palestinian Political Prisoner in Louisiana,<\/span><\/i> Khalil writes, \u201cmy arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza\u2026While I await legal decisions that hold the futures of my wife and child in the balance, those who enabled my targeting remain comfortably at Columbia University.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Khalil served as a mediator between the Columbia University Apartheid Divest \u2014 a coalition of student protesters \u2014 and university administration. As Columbia rose to the forefront of the 2024 campus protests over the war in Gaza, Khalil became a prominent face of the movement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStudents have long been at the forefront of change,\u201d said Khalil. \u201cEven if the public has yet to fully grasp it, it is students who steer us toward truth and justice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Two weeks after Khalil\u2019s arrest,<\/span> Rumeysa Ozturk<\/span><\/a> \u2014 a doctoral student at Tufts University \u2014 was arrested by masked, plainclothes DHS agents. She had just left her Somerville apartment to meet friends for iftar, a meal to break Ramadan fast. The community was<\/span> \u201c<\/span>rattled<\/span><\/a>\u201d by the arrest, comparing it to a \u201ckidnapping.\u201d Ozturk\u2019s family and legal support were unable to contact her for days, unaware of her whereabouts and the reason for her detention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Local residents, students, administration, and lawmakers have come to Ozturk\u2019s defense. United States Representative Ayanna Pressely labeled her arrest \u201ca horrifying violation of Rumeysa\u2019s constitutional rights to due process and free speech.\u201d The university\u2019s president, Sunil Kumar, made a <\/span>statement <\/span><\/a>in the student\u2019s defense and called for her release. Kumar elaborated on the impact of Ozturk\u2019s arrest, saying the freedom of Tufts international community is<\/span> \u201c<\/span>essential to the functioning of the University and serving our mission.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe University has heard from students, faculty and staff who are forgoing opportunities to speak at international conferences and avoiding or postponing international travel,\u201d wrote Kumar. \u201cIn the worst cases, many report being fearful of leaving their homes, even to attend and teach classes on campus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A DHS spokesperson told <\/span>CNN<\/span><\/a> that Ozturk had \u201cengaged in activities in support of Hamas\u201d \u2014 and many believe the comment references an <\/span>op-ed<\/span><\/a> she co-wrote in the <\/span>Tufts Daily<\/span><\/i> last March criticizing the university\u2019s response to the Israel-Palestine conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alireza Doroudi, Dogukan Gunaydin, Ranjani Srinivasan, Yunseo Chung \u2014 another student is targeted and arrested by university and federal administration for exercising their rights to free speech every day. Though these arrests in higher education are unprecedented, the core issues are nothing new.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing New: A Brief History of Free Speech and Activism on Campus<\/b><\/p>\n

College campuses have a long and troubled history with issues of free speech. Beginning with the foundational <\/span>Free Speech Movement<\/span><\/a> at the University of California Berkeley in the mid-1960\u2019s, student-led demonstrations spanned the coasts. In September of 1964, Berkeley\u2019s dean of students banned political activity in a popular plaza on campus, limiting students\u2019 ability to organize anti-Vietnam War demonstrations. Students on all sides of the political spectrum banded together in response, maintaining their presence as a form of protest. After demonstrators were arrested, students staged their first sit-in. A few days later, prominent student-activist Jack Weinberg was arrested for his participation in the protests. When police arrived on the scene to arrest Weinberg, thousands of students rallied in his defense, blocking the police from leaving with their classmate. Weinberg sat in the back of the police car for 32 hours while countless classmates spoke in his defense \u2014 removing their shoes before climbing atop the car that became an \u201copen mic.\u201d Mario Savio \u2014 one of the most prominent faces of the movement \u2014 delivered a rallying cry to the crowd, who remained until the next evening.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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The front page of the Columbia Spectator on April 24, 1968 (Columbia Spectator Archive).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Later that semester, Savio gave his famous \u201cMachine Speech<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0inspiring the student occupation of Sproul Hall. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to indicate to the people who run it\u2026 that unless you\u2019re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.\u201d Over 700 students were arrested and the faculty ga<\/span>thered in their defen<\/span>se, organizing a strike that later forced administration to set a new preceden<\/span>t of free speech and academic freedom on campus. Years later in reflection, Weinberg told the New York Times<\/a>, \u201cyoung movements have a certain integrity.\u201d He is largely remembered for coining the motto of student protesters: \u201cdon\u2019t trust anyone over 30.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Higher education saw one of its greatest tragedies in Ohio during the 1970 <\/span>Kent State<\/span><\/a> protests against the war in Vietnam. While previous demonstrations had drawn the attention of local and campus law enforcement,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kent State was the first university to allow the National Guard onto campus to combat student protesters. The guard was called to Kent on May 2 to address demonstrations that had progressed to riots o<\/span>ver the course of the weekend.<\/p>\n

When classes resumed on Monday, May 4, demonstrators congregated on campus once again. Guardsmen confronted tho<\/span>usands of students gathered to participate in and observe protests with tear gas and loaded rifles. When demonstrators ignored orders to disperse, the guard fired into the crowd, killing four students and injuring nine. In the years since, many form<\/span>er Kent State students have shared their stories from the infamous event. Former student Suzanne Irvin, who was on campus that day, <\/span>described<\/span><\/a> the scene as \u201cout of time and space,\u201d like those she had observed on the \u201cnightly news\u201d in the decade prior.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The front page of the Kent Stater on May 1, 1970 (Daily Kent Stater Digital Archive).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe felt united in wanting them off our campus with the<\/span>ir guns,\u201d Irvin wrote in 1996. \u201cA girl came running down the hill in front of us, with one shoe on and one shoe off. She was screaming and wailing: \u2018They\u2019ve shot people, they\u2019ve killed people.\u2019\u201d She closed her recollection with a message for the next generation of students, quoting philosopher George Santayana: \u201cthose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tensions spiked once again in the mid 80\u2019s with one of the first major protests calling for an end to university investment in companies that profited from South African apartheid. Columbia University was at the center of the movement in the spring of 1985, when members of the Coalition for a Free South Africa organized a series of nonviolent demonstrations that took place over the course of three weeks. Students gathered by the thousands to hear their classmates speak at the steps of the historic Hamilton Hall, which had been occupied by organizers. They chained the doors shut before unfurling a banner that dubbed the building, \u201cMandela Hall.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In October 1985, Columbia became the first university to commit to total divestment. Still feeling the effects of the violent Anti-Vietnam War protests of 1968 \u2014 during which over 700 students were arrested \u2014 the university was willing to work with students to come to a compromise.<\/span><\/p>\n

“In ’68 Columbia was burned very badly. \u2026 Columbia took a big hit, not only morally but financially, in the years after ’68, and nobody wanted to go through that again,\u201d Todd Gitlin, Columbia professor, told <\/span>The Spectator<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI’m not surprised that a lesson was learned, that they were going to handle a protest with relatively kid gloves.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>anti-apartheid movement<\/span><\/a> stretched far beyond Columbia, reaching institutions like Harvard, Brown, Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley. Demonstrations varied from sit-ins and teach-ins to marches and hunger strikes. Pedro Noguera took part in anti-apartheid protests as a student at UC Berkeley in the 1980\u2019s. He was one of over 150 students arrested during a sit-in at Sproul Hall. Now the Dean of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, Noguera told <\/span>NPR <\/span><\/a>the ethos of the movement was \u201ceducating\u201d and \u201corganizing.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were always nonviolent,\u201d said Noguera. \u201cWe always maintained dialogue with the administration throughout. They weren’t happy about what we were doing, but we tried to assure them that this was not about destroying the university or tearing it down. This was about making the point politically.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A more modern student-led movement arrived in 2014 with the birth of Black Lives Matter. Students across the country participated in marches and demonstrations protesting violence and injustice against black men. After the grand jury decisions in the cases of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, students across the country participated in \u201c<\/span>die-in<\/span><\/a>\u201d protests. In December 2014, Korkor Koppoe, a student at <\/span>William and Mary<\/span><\/a>, led a \u201cdie-in\u201d on his campus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over 200 students marched into the library with their hands up and palms forward, echoing chants of \u201chand up,\u201d \u201cdon\u2019t shoot,\u201d \u201cno justice, no peace.\u201d Once they had all filed in, the students lay in silence for four-and-a-half minutes in honor of Michael Brown, whose body remained on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, for four-and-a-half hours after he was shot by police.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet not the present moment be lost,\u201d said Yohance Whitaker, a student involved in the protest. \u201cWe must work together as a community to develop a plan to move forward so that we can end the systematic devaluing of black lives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The murder of George Floyd in May 2020 reignited the <\/span>movement<\/span><\/a>. Though most universities were not able to organize on-campus due to COVID-19 restrictions, many found alternative ways to support the cause. Students joined marches off campus in their communities, advocated for institutional reform, and formed initiatives to spread the movement. Meshaal Bannerman was one of several students who shared their activism experience with the <\/span>Harvard Gazette<\/span><\/a>, saying he was \u201cinspired\u201d by generations coming together to create change.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur ancestors have been waiting for it for years,\u201d said Bannerman. \u201cWe want to be the generation that changes that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A New Age: The Modern Student Protest<\/b><\/p>\n

The massacre of Israelis by Hamas on October 7, 2023, triggered a new age of university protests \u2014 one that bears a striking similarity to the Free Speech Movement of the 1960\u2019s. Unlike their predecessors fighting for a free South Africa or an end to the Vietnam War, those taking part in today\u2019s Israel-Palestine protests face substantial opposition not just from university administration, but also from their fellow students. Activists at Columbia University spearheaded the movement, holding one of the first large-scale protests for a free Palestine just days after the attack. Opposing demonstrations increased tensions on campus as Jewish students began to raise concerns over antisemitism.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Student protests at NYU’s Gould Plaza on April 22, 2024 (Samson Tu for Washington Square News).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Department of Education opened an investigation into alleged antisemitism on a number of college campuses. Less than a month later, in December of 2023, the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT sat before Congress to <\/span>testify<\/span><\/a> on these allegations. Rep. Elise Stefanik asked the presidents one by one whether \u201ccalling for the genocide of Jews\u201d would violate their university\u2019s code of conduct, \u201cyes or no?\u201d Unable to provide Stefanik with the one-word response she was after, university presidents faced intense backlash, with many calling for their resignation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable that this needs to be said,\u201d White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in <\/span>response<\/span><\/a> to the hearings. \u201cCalls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The issue reached a boiling point in April 2024, when pro-Palestine students and others organized the Gaza Solidarity Encampments. At Columbia University, students gathered in the night with plans to occupy the South Lawn \u2014 all while then-president Nemat Shafik prepared to testify before Congress about alleged antisemitism on her campus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>As President Shafik was testifying about the implications of antisemitism, ironically, antisemitism was rapidly increasing at a rate I had never seen before on our campus,\u201d freshman Parker De Dek\u00e9r told <\/span>New York Magazine<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t mean the protesters sitting on the lawns. Them sitting there and exercising their rights to free speech and advocating for peace in the Middle East is not antisemitism. What is antisemitism, though, is the numerous experiences I\u2019ve been faced with. Wednesday evening, I was walking from my dorm to go to Chabad, a space for Jewish students at Columbia, and someone yells, \u2018You fucking Jew, you keep on testifying, you fucking Jew.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The next day, Columbia University called in the NYPD to clear the encampments. Over 100 students were arrested and suspended, with some losing access to housing and meal plans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m supposed to graduate. I\u2019m also a low-income student. A lot was on the line,\u201d said Laura, a senior at the time. [<\/span>New York<\/span><\/i> withheld her surname at her request.] \u201cI asked myself, <\/span>What am I willing to give up? <\/span><\/i>If people in Gaza can keep giving up everything, it\u2019s not a big deal to be arrested for a few hours.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The arrests at Columbia triggered a surge of encampments at universities across the country. Students at universities including Yale, University of Texas, and New York University were arrested for their involvement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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I will never forget the night of the arrests at NYU, my campus. I was a sophomore at the time, knee-deep in final exams and spending most of my days at the library, just a block away from the site of the encampment. The school community had been watching for days as students in the encampments held \u201cteach-ins,\u201d watched films related to their cause, heard guest speakers, and shared meals. On the <\/span>night<\/span><\/a> of the arrests, they even held a Passover seder followed by a Muslim Maghrib prayer. Though the war had created intense division on campus, the demonstrations felt like a rare moment of unity and school pride. I had never seen so many NYU students gathered in one space, rallied behind one cause.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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A student is arrested at the April 22, 2024 NYU protests (Samson Tu for Washington Square News).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Campus security locked us in the library during my fourth hour of studying. Students gathered by the windows to watch as officers unloaded from their vans wearing helmets and masks, holding shields and zip-ties \u2014 prepared for war against an enemy force that was entirely unarmed. We followed the events through an Instagram livestream, watching officers enter the encampments and arrest our peers. Some who managed to escape tried to take shelter in the library, which was also now lined with NYPD. Protesters continued their chants, banging on the windows as students cheered them on from inside.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The next morning, campus was a ghost town. Buildings were guarded by lingering NYPD, and the site of the demonstration was closed. In the days following, the administration boarded up the plaza that had held the encampment. Those barriers remain a year later, with President Linda Mills citing \u201c<\/span>renovations<\/span><\/a>\u201d as the cause. But no matter what measures were taken by administrations, students did not stay silent for long.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen one camp goes down, another one comes up stronger,\u201d Reyna Workman, an NYU student, told <\/span>Spectrum News<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Uptown at Columbia, students organized another occupation on April 18; days later on April 29 students took over Hamilton Hall, a historic site for student activism. Protesters charged the doors and barricaded themselves inside, hanging a banner from the balcony that read \u201cHind\u2019s Hall,\u201d after a young Palestinian girl whose death has become a symbol of \u201cIsrael\u2019s destruction of Gaza.\u201d President Shafik called in the NYPD once again. Hundreds of officers entered campus, guns drawn.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe police came in droves,\u201d said Cameron, a sophomore at the time <\/span>[<\/span>New York<\/span><\/i> withheld her surname at her request.]<\/span> \u201cStudents ran and fled from them, screaming. The police forced everyone \u2014 all bystanders, including myself, other students, press, media, medics, and legal observers \u2014 into nearby buildings. We saw the police push one individual down the stairs. We saw them violently arrest students.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Columbia administrator who asked to be identified by their first initial, J, told <\/span>New York Magazine<\/span><\/a>: \u201cThis whole experience, the last six, seven months, it\u2019s going to stay with me for the rest of my career, if not the rest of my life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Polarized Nation, A Polarized Campus<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cDivisive,\u201d \u201ccorrupt,\u201d \u201cmessy,\u201d \u201cdysfunctional\u201d: when asked to describe the current state of American politics in a <\/span>2023 PEW survey<\/span><\/a>, almost 80% of Americans used a negative word or phrase. Partisan tensions and intolerance of opposition have reached all-time highs, with 86% of Americans agreeing that the two political parties are more <\/span>focused on fighting each other than on solving problems.<\/span> College campuses are no exception to this polarization epidemic, with almost 60% of Americans <\/span>agreeing <\/span><\/a>that higher education suffers biases.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Everyone from center left to right, everyone feels like they have to speak very carefully,” social psychologist and NYU professor Jonathan Haidt said of political tensions. \u201cWhat we’re getting is illiberalism on both sides. That’s scary, especially in the university\u2026 People have to feel that they can speak up and say what they think is true.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While universities were long considered open forums for discussion, institutions formed on the ideal of free expression, the experience of today\u2019s college students fails to align with this aspiration. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (<\/span>FIRE<\/span><\/a>)\u2019s <\/span>2025 College Free Speech Report<\/span><\/a> estimated forty-two percent of students today believe that it is only \u201csomewhat\u201d clear that their administration protects free speech, while 24% believe it is \u201cnot at all\u201d or \u201cnot very\u201d clear. Students\u2019 fears have been heightened by increasing stakes; many now face repercussions from university and federal administration for exercising their right to free speech.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese aren\u2019t just statistics,\u201d <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a> Angela C. Erickson, Vice President of Research at FIRE. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen the names and faces of people who are hurt when a campus is hostile to free speech.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Erickson claims universities\u2019 failure to protect the speech of their community \u201ctrickles down into student behavior.\u201d Schools with low administrative support often have low levels of \u201cstudent comfort\u201d when it comes to expression of views on controversial issues \u2014 the most prominent subject of contention being the Israel-Palestine war.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

NYU Professor Hannah Gurman seconds this top-down theory, stating the need for universities to \u201cpush back\u201d on their leadership to ensure they don\u2019t act in response to federal pressure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe bigger issue is political pressures that are fueling the pressures on the administration,\u201d Gurman told me. “Elise Stefanik [is] getting university presidents fired, and then [NYU President] Linda Mills looks at that and she feels pressure to respond. And so unless that dynamic goes away, nothing’s going to change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In contrast to Gurman\u2019s approach, many right-leaning Americans see the polarization of higher education as a bottom-up issue, the work of radical students and their professors. Political engagement has become increasingly accessible for young people in the digital age. Nations once separated by oceans are now connected by screens, and global crises reach our shores within minutes. Alongside the saturation of news and media has come an influx in misinformation and disinformation \u2014 both of which are direct contributors to polarization. Haidt is a famous critic of social media\u2019s contribution to politics.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s what social media does to us,\u201d said Haidt. \u201cIt ensconces us in echo chambers that praise radicalism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Haidt listed another component to the \u201cchemical weapon\u201d of division: identity politics.<\/span><\/p>\n

The term identity politics was coined by the authors of the <\/span>Combahee River Collective Statement<\/span><\/a>, who explained: \u201cthe most profound and potentially most radical politics come directly out of our own identity, as opposed to working to end somebody else’s oppression.\u201d In a 2023 <\/span>study<\/span><\/a> at Tufts University, almost two-thirds of young people said their politics are a \u201csomewhat or very important part of their personal identity.\u201d This phenomenon exists across parties, facilitating further tribalism and polarization.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTrump became president when I was around 11, so that’s when I started becoming aware of the world and what the situation was like in America,\u201d said Joel Pritikin, president of the College Republicans at American University, on how he became involved in conservative politics. \u201cI had noticed that \u2014 especially between 2017 and 2020 \u2014 life was a lot better in those years than they were recently. I kind of see it as sort of a duty to do what I can to make America better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, Kaya Walker \u2014 former president of the College Republicans at NYU \u2014 described feeling obligated to be politically active. \u201cI sort of have to,\u201d Walker told me. \u201cI feel like I have a responsibility to involve myself in [politics] because it concerns my life, my way of living, my family’s way of living.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Katherine Groome \u2014 a staff writer at NYU\u2019s political opinion publication \u201cIn the Zeitgeist\u201d \u2014 said she was compelled to become politically active on campus because of the \u201cbackwardness\u201d of the current administration. \u201cI wanted an outlet to educate myself \u2026 to form opinions on subjects I otherwise could turn a blind eye to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur livelihood and every aspect of our broader community is inherently intertwined with politics,\u201d said Tyler Morales, president of the Solidarity Organization for Latin(e\/x) Students at the University of Richmond. \u201cTo remain uninformed in a space like that is to be apathetic and irresponsible to the world and people around you. I stay informed so that I can make the most politically educated decisions for the people that need it the most, especially with how much more polarized society has become.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Faculty and professors, too, see universities as a space to channel their political passions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of colleagues who think of the university not as an ideology machine, but as an incubator for social justice movements. And so people self-select,\u201d said Gurman. \u201cIf you go to Hillsdale College, then you want to be part of that movement, and if you go to NYU, you want to be a part of a different movement, and so you’re kind of training leaders within your movement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Princeton professor Greg Conti agreed with Gurman, adding that professors tend to be \u201cideologically monolithic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey hire people who think like they do, and it’s kind of a self-reinforcing, ambitious cycle where, you know, if 80% of professors in certain fields are very left leaning, well then they’re likely to only hire left leaning people\u2026 And then pretty soon\u2026 you have fields that literally have no conservatives in them at all,\u201d said Conti. \u201cThat’s a terrible thing for people’s education.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Polarization has brought about a lack of civil discourse on campuses. Fearing social and administrative repercussions, students are increasingly unwilling to share their views and engage in debate. By allowing ideas and opinions to go unchallenged in the classroom, students limit the scope of their learning and fail to develop critical thinking skills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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While it is true that student political engagement today rivals that of the 60\u2019s and 70\u2019s, I would be remiss not to mention those who choose not to participate. Campus culture is a signifier of students\u2019 political activity. Elite universities like Columbia or Brown are among the <\/span>most<\/span><\/a> politically active campuses in the country because of their intellectual, academic culture. Their liberal reputation appeals to students with whom their values align, maintaining their image and tradition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I witnessed a similar phenomenon during my visit to Southern Methodist University \u2014 though here the university\u2019s culture facilitated an environment of unconcern. Students I spoke to were largely uninformed about global politics. Some claimed to read the headlines but chose not to engage for their <\/span>mental wellbeing<\/span><\/a>; for others it was an unintentional ignorance. Even more engaged students I spoke to agreed that politics was not a large part of the conversation at SMU.<\/span><\/p>\n

Megan Rentner, a staff writer for <\/span>The Bucknellian<\/span><\/a>, described a similar environment at Bucknell University. Just last month she published an op-ed entitled \u201cThe Return of Political Apathy.\u201d Rentner described a steep decline in political concern on campus after the 2024 election, citing three reasons for this regression: distance, political stigma and perceived irrelevance. \u201c<\/span>Students at Bucknell simply do not see any changes occurring in their day to day life, so they have no reason to want to engage with it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tomas Hinckley, a student at the University of Connecticut, published a similar piece in The <\/span>Daily Campus<\/span><\/a> titled, \u201cPolitical Apathy at UConn: What Makes Students Want to Create Change?\u201d He proposed two solutions to bridge the gap between students and the broader population. The first, \u201cexcitement\u201d \u2014 \u201cthe feeling that [students] can do something big.\u201d By promoting an understanding of \u201cthe place of the academy\u201d in creating change, Hinckley believes UConn can increase political engagement. \u201cWhen that connection is made and [students] know their power, they can begin to use it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Censorship and Self-Censorship<\/b><\/p>\n

Freedom of expression in higher education today has two aspects: free speech and academic freedom. Many universities model their free speech policies after the First Amendment, though they vary by state and by institution. Public universities are largely held to constitutional standards, but have the freedom to impose \u201ctime, place, and manner\u201d restrictions that are deemed in the interest of the community. If these restrictions are based on content they \u201camount to government <\/span>censorship<\/span><\/a>,\u201d and are in direct violation of the Constitution.<\/span><\/p>\n

Private campuses have more liberty in creating their institutional standards as they are not considered \u201cgovernment entities.\u201d Still, by accepting federal funding these schools are required to abide by anti-discrimination laws, particularly those outlined in <\/span>Title IX<\/span><\/a>. Private universities are also required to follow state laws which can sometimes outline further protection than what is offered by the Constitution. California, for example, enacted the \u201c<\/span>Leonard Law<\/span><\/a>\u201d in 1992, subjecting all universities in the state \u2014 private or public \u2014 to federal regulations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Academic freedom<\/span><\/a> goes further than free speech in awarding the campus community the \u201ccomplete and unlimited freedom to pursue inquiry and publish its results.\u201d Standards of academic freedom also vary by institution, though unlike free speech laws, they do not involve the federal government. The protection of academic freedom is essential to upholding the image of the university as a platform for inquiry and exploration.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

In FIRE\u2019s <\/span>2024 College Free Speech Report<\/span><\/a>, they observed that more than half of student-participants \u201cexpressed worry about damaging their reputation because of someone misunderstanding what they have said or done\u201d on campus. The result of their fear? A silent classroom, one which Professor Gurman considers to be \u201ccause for concern.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re afraid to disagree,\u201d she said of her students. \u201cI often have to be the devil’s advocate because the students themselves might be nervous about disagreeing with one another \u2026 There’s more on the professor now to make sure that there’s an arena for disagreement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Several schools have implemented bias response systems like NYU\u2019s \u201cbias response line.\u201d Haidt compared systems like this to the German Stasi. \u201cWe’re encouraging people to snitch on other people,\u201d he said. \u201cThat’s how you end up walking on eggshells.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He described the modern classroom as a \u201cminefield,\u201d \u201cwhere the consequences of misstep can be gigantic.\u201d \u201cI’ve been much more careful about what I say in class because I can’t be provocative. I can’t say anything that causes negative emotions,\u201d said Haidt. \u201cThere’s no forgiveness.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the issue of self-censorship exists across political affiliations, conservative students have been more vocal about their gripes with free speech. Amid concerns with the social and academic consequences of speaking up in a classroom setting, many young people turn to social media to express themselves and find like-minded people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pritikin told me he often hesitates to reveal himself to classmates and professors as \u201c<\/span>the<\/span><\/i> Republican.\u201d \u201cI don’t really feel safe [expressing political opinions] out loud,\u201d said Pritikin. \u201cWhen you’re such a minority, politically, it is kind of scary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While the current landscape for civil debate seems bleak, Students and professors across the country are doing their part to encourage inquiry and debate what they can to teach students productive dialogue skills. Nim Ravid, an Israeli student at Harvard, is doing his part to ease tensions between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestine students on campus. Inspired by the isolation he felt after the October 7 attacks, Ravid founded \u201cOur Harvard\u201d \u2014 a student-led group dedicated to easing polarization on campus. \u201cIt’s been tremendously difficult to get people to come to these events, but I\u2019m inspired by some Arab friends who despite immense social pressures still come,\u201d he told the <\/span>Harvard Gazette<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly at the University of Notre Dame, bipartisan student group BridgeND strives to inform students on \u201crespectful political dialogue.\u201d On a visit to the university, I spoke with the club\u2019s president, Maddie Colbert, about the group’s work and the political landscape across campus. She described the group as a space for \u201cconstructive conversation\u201d rather than heated debate. To maintain this environment, however, certain rules are in place: \u201cask questions,\u201d \u201caddress the statement, not the person.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe community [at Notre Dame] is very strong,\u201d Colbert told me. \u201cThat’s not to say that everyone gets along with everyone \u2014 that’s not the reality \u2014 but I would say that there’s a lot more space for students of differing political beliefs to interact with each other in a non-political setting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Student publications are another target of administrative censorship. Universities across the country have a <\/span>history<\/span><\/a> of censoring student newspapers to protect their reputations. Not only are students threatened by censorship itself, the fear of institutional consequences steers them away from writing controversial issues and opinions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Organizations like the Student Press Law Center work to defend student journalists and their First Amendment rights. Julia, an NYU student and intern at SPLC, spoke to me about her work on \u201c<\/span>New Voices<\/span><\/a>\u201d: a movement dedicated to the protection of language beyond the scope of the First Amendment. In her work with \u201cNew Voices,\u201d she began to realize just how \u201cnuanced\u201d protected speech can be.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know the answers,\u201d she said, \u201cI don’t know how to fix it, and I wish I did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Deciphering protected speech proved to be an issue at the University of Texas at Dallas in September when Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez, former editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, <\/span>The Mercury<\/span><\/i>, was removed from his post. Gutierrez alleged the university forced him out in an act of censorship, pointing to his coverage of Pro-Palestine student protests that had led to over twenty arrests on campus.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had multiple opportunities to just roll over and let campus administrators dictate exactly what the student paper should be, limiting what we can and can\u2019t say in the newspaper,\u201d <\/span>Gutierrez<\/span> told<\/span><\/a> the <\/span>Dallas Morning News<\/span><\/i>. \u201cBut we haven\u2019t submitted to that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gutierrez and his staff at The Mercury cut ties from the university and started an independent publication, <\/span>The Retrograde<\/span><\/i>. The university removed newspaper stands from campus in an attempt to limit the reach of the new publication, only to have their efforts backfire, increasing students\u2019 interest. The paper\u2019s new mission statement <\/span>reads<\/span><\/a>: \u201c<\/span>Not only do we aim to inform and entertain our readers, but we serve the UTD community by investigating crucial subjects and helping hold those in power accountable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Professors have also taken part in the efforts to decrease polarization. At American University, Professor Lara Schwartz founded the <\/span>Project on Civic Dialogue<\/span><\/a>: a program designed to develop \u201cdialogue\u201d and \u201cexpressive freedom.\u201d As a part of the program, Schwartz organized a series entitled \u201cDisagree With A Professor,\u201d in which students and professors debate hot-button issues. Schwartz is a proponent of \u201cabsolute\u201d free speech, deeming it essential to her students\u2019 academic and professional success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Schwartz published an <\/span>op-ed<\/span><\/a> for American University\u2019s leading student publication, The Eagle, in response to the university\u2019s failure to implement a divestment resolution passed by the student government. She referenced the conflict as an example of the disconnect between students and administration, one that threatens their academic freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot give [students] the education they deserve in the context of censorship and when leadership is unwilling to engage with them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Schwartz pointed to censorship as a larger issue among higher education. Infringements on free speech are more common at private universities, who are not legally held to the same First Amendment standards. These universities often prioritize institutional values above free speech, leading to well-intended but poorly implemented regulations. <\/span>Restrictions<\/span><\/a> exist in various forms including book bans, bias-hotlines, and protest policies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Private institutions also often fall victim to <\/span>jawboning<\/span><\/a>: pressure from a lawmaker on a university president to comply with demands that are not enforced by law. These demands often come from red states looking to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. Florida has become a case study for university censorship under Governor DeSantis, who is an adamant critic of \u201c<\/span>woke<\/span><\/a>\u201d ideology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The New College of the University of South Florida is the only public liberal arts institution in the state, and was long considered the most progressive. That is, until January 2023, when DeSantis appointed six new members to the board of trustees \u2014 all conservative and dedicated to his \u201canti-woke\u201d agenda.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Amy Reid is a French professor at the New College where she founded and directed the Gender Studies program. Her department was abolished alongside DEI initiatives in the government takeover. Hundreds of library books, many of which came from the former Gender and Diversity Center, were dumped into a landfill. After <\/span>photos<\/span><\/a> of a dumpster overflowing with books gained traction online, a university spokesperson <\/span>referred<\/span><\/a> to the disposal as \u201cstandard weeding\u201d of the university library.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reid decided to take an unpaid leave from her post as a professor after the Gender Studies program was shut down. She remains on the board of <\/span>trustees where she is consistently silenced and \u201cdismissed\u201d by other board members.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen [meetings are] on Zoom, I have my mic cut off,\u201d Reid said in an <\/span>interview<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve been called \u2018petty and performative\u2019 and in one meeting, Christopher Rufo told me to \u2018just shut up.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next? Trump 2.0<\/b><\/p>\n

Just days after the November, 2024, presidential election, a group of academics gathered in the hotel conference room of a Washington D.C. hotel for an event led by the American Association of University Professors, Defending Academic Freedom In the Era of Trump 2.0. <\/span>Soft instrumentals were drawn out by the voices of friends and colleagues, introducing and reuniting. I listened as they discussed recent events, describing the inauguration as \u201capocalyptic,\u201d worrying about their jobs and the safety of their students.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few miles down the road sat newly inaugurated President Donald Trump with a stack of executive orders waiting for his signature, many of which would target higher education. The second Trump administration has sparked a new age of censorship, one driven by federal rather than university regulations. In just over <\/span>100<\/span><\/a> days, the president has made <\/span>significant<\/span><\/a> changes to the Department of Education (DOE), tasking Education Secretary Linda McMahon with putting herself \u201c<\/span>out of a job<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cuts to the DOE <\/span>began<\/span><\/a> with its Office for Civil Rights, which previously handled federal loans, tracked student achievement, and supported students with disabilities. A majority of the issues they handled dealt with discrimination based on race and gender. Trump\u2019s main target within the office is their contribution to DEI efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

On February 14, the DOE issued a \u201c<\/span>Dear Colleague<\/span><\/a>\u201d letter to institutions receiving federal funding, declaring any race-conscious programming to be unconstitutional. The notice stated that \u201ctreating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent.\u201d Institutions who refused to comply with his orders faced drastic funding cuts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The administration’s threats to funding are a direct blow to academic freedom. When universities lose federal backing they can no longer support students with financial aid or scholarships, diverse fields of study, and research grants. When asked how he believes higher education should respond to Trump\u2019s threats, Professor Don Moynihan of the University of Michigan explained to the conference attendees,\u201c<\/span>We lose our power when we lose our anchoring within a community. I don’t think the law is gonna save us here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For smaller universities and community colleges, former DOE policy advisor Tariq Habash called the loss of funds \u201ca death sentence.\u201d He claimed it was the responsibility of the elite universities to uphold their ethos and defy the administration’s orders, saying they can \u201cafford the risk.\u201d The future of higher education, according to Habash, has become a moral question:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat lines are we willing to cross in order to maintain those funding streams?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the most vulnerable in the higher education community are international students and professors. The Trump administration has revoked about <\/span>800<\/span><\/a> of their visas and detained more than a dozen students. While a number of students were targeted for their involvement in pro-Palestine activism on campus, other revocations seem based on minor legal infractions \u2014 or on nothing at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you think it’s gonna stop with Palestine, that\u2019s just not true,\u201d said Habash. Still, he maintains hope. \u201cI\u2019m optimistic. I\u2019ve seen students and faculty put themselves on the line and recognize the implications for their futures.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Amy Reid of New College agreed, saying higher education needs to focus on the \u201clittle wins\u201d at the state level in the fight for free speech and academic freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFederal government is insulated from the human consequences of what they\u2019re putting forth,\u201d said Reid. \u201cState government doesn’t have that space \u2014 make them feel the impact of what they’re doing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Reid closed the panel, saying that by exercising our freedom of speech we can reclaim it. Paraphrasing a quote from the late American journalist Molly Ivans, she said,\u201cWe have to stand up for what we believe in, and we have to find joy as we do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a Saturday evening in March, Mahmoud Khalil and his wife, Noor Abdalla, went out for dinner. Abdalla, 28, is a Midwest-born dentist expecting her first child with Khalil, age 30, a Syrian-born Palestinian studying at Columbia University. The couple returned to their home on the university\u2019s campus only to be met with agents from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":59,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-67","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138,"href":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions\/138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}