A Tale of Three Universities Northwestern appeases its protesters. Florida enforces its rules. Columbia is a mess.
A governance divide is emerging on college campuses, and the anti-Israel protests are putting it on stark display.
On Monday Northwestern University said it reached an “agreement” with the leaders of its anti-Israel encampment, which has sprawled across the campus lawn and onto Sheridan Road. In exchange for removing the tents, Northwestern will fund two visiting Palestinian faculty members for at least two years, scholarships for five Palestinian undergraduates and a safe space for Middle Eastern and North African Muslim students.
That’s not negotiation; it’s successful blackmail. Students for Justice in Palestine will encourage more of the same from protesters on other campuses if university leaders won’t enforce their own rules.
The University of Florida took a different approach. In a statement Monday evening, the school said protesters who engaged in prohibited activities would face a trespassing order and an “interim” suspension from the university. “This is not complicated,” a spokesman said. “The University of Florida is not a daycare, and we do not treat protesters like children—they knew the rules, they broke the rules, and they’ll face the consequences.”
That’s appropriate, and it’s also a life lesson. Florida’s message shows respect for a liberal education environment and students who attend college to learn something. Appeasement does the opposite.
At Columbia, meanwhile, President Minouche Shafik tried to negotiate with protesters to coax them to dismantle their Little Gaza, but students escalated instead. After faculty objected to New York police arrests of student protesters, Ms. Shafik said she wouldn’t invite law enforcement back on campus. On Monday night protesters rewarded her forbearance by breaking a window, taking over Hamilton Hall, and hanging an “Intifada” banner.
The university building is now occupied by what one protest leader called an “autonomous subgroup” of Columbia Apartheid Divest, which has been organizing the anti-Israel demonstrations. Ms. Shafik has all but surrendered the campus. The Ivy League school is barely serving students who pay more than $88,000 to attend, let alone making Jewish students feel safe.
Where is Columbia’s board of trustees? Missing in public action. They appointed Ms. Shafik, and they are the ultimate custodians of the institution. Don’t take the job if all you want is a resume stuffer and admission for your children. See the names of the board’s co-chairs and vice chairs nearby.
A spokesman said Tuesday Columbia will begin expelling students who don’t leave Hamilton Hall, and it’s about time if the school really means it. Suspension isn’t enough for students who are harassing others, breaking rules or disrupting study on campus. Maybe Columbia can invite someone from Florida to show them how it’s done.
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