As college students return to campus this fall, whether administrators have learned how to better handle anti-war protests remains to be seen.
When police cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment at George Washington University earlier this year, officers doused Moataz Salim's hands and arms so thoroughly in pepper spray, he says, they burned for days.
Salim, a graduate student studying clinical psychology who says he has lost more than 160 relatives in Gaza, wasn’t among the dozens of people arrested that day in May. But after the raid, Salim decided to take a leave of absence from his education – in part, to focus on his activism, but also so he might avoid disciplinary repercussions from his university.
Salim, 27, said he’s spent the summer speaking out alongside members of Congress and attending protests, mostly recently during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial visit to Washington.
Although he and others are facing disciplinary hearings for their involvement in the encampment, Salim said, it’s clear the student body won’t be deterred from protesting in some form as classes resume.
"These students and myself, we aren't taking on these repercussions and consequences because it's fun," he said. "It's because it's the right thing to do."
As the fall term gets underway at many colleges, administrators are preparing for another possible surge in campus activism. The last school year ended acrimoniously as anti-war protests persisted on many school grounds, disrupting graduation ceremonies and jeopardizing some students’ academic standing.
Though on-campus demonstrations lulled this summer as students dispersed, the conditions that motivated the recent wave of activism haven’t changed dramatically since the spring. While several high-profile college presidents have left their roles, many schools haven’t substantively changed their investing strategies – a demand made by the lion’s share of protesters but a complicated ask in practice. International negotiations over a potential cease-fire in Gaza are tenuous. And members of Congress continue to see political opportunity in inserting themselves into the debate over how campuses should go about quelling unrest.
As young activists prepare to ramp up the momentum again, harsher rules await them on some campuses. Michael Roth, the president of Wesleyan University, a private school in Connecticut, hopes others in his shoes have learned a few lessons from the chaos of the last school year.His approach to encampments like those that sprang up at many schools, including his, is not a uniform, across-the-board stance, but rather a nuanced one.
“If you have a space of expression and not intimidation, it should be encouraged,” he said. “If it veers into a space of intimidation or harassment… it’s the responsibility of the university to shut it down.”
Tougher rules, bans on clubs
A protest encampment at Indiana University Bloomington lasted for nearly 100 days before students voluntarily took it down in response to the new “expressive activities” policies that went into effect on Aug. 1, according to Bryce Greene, founder of the school’s Palestine Solidarity Committee. The policies effectively ban encampments on campus by prohibiting camping. The rules require advanced approval for signs and temporary structures and state that protest activities must occur between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., according to the Herald-Times, part of the USA TODAY Network.
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