Maryam Alwan figured the worst was over after New York City police in riot gear arrested her and other protesters on the Columbia University campus, loaded them onto buses and held them in custody for hours.
But the next evening, the college junior received an email from the university. Alwan and other students were being suspended after their arrests at the “ Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” a tactic colleges across the country have deployed to calm growing campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.
The students’ plight has become a central part of protests, with students and a growing number of faculty demanding their amnesty. At issue is whether universities and law enforcement will clear the charges and withhold other consequences, or whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students into their adult lives.
I’ll go with colleges are failing their basic mission of providing a safe place to help kids develop into adults. Whether you agree with them or not, the university should be in the business of creating that safe place, helping develop the future, not escalating, not poisoning the future of the kids entrusted to them.
i hear you, but there’s a difference between letting kids develop into adults and supporting students who trespass. You don’t just get to break laws because you’re a student and your school should support you to develop.