Over the past several months, the American people have watched in horror as college campuses have been beset with the ugliest displays of violence and antisemitism seen in decades. New Jersey was not exempt as “protests” turned into illegal occupations that threatened students, reporters, class schedules and the entire academic mission of the school. To make matters worse, recent investigative reporting by the Wall Street Journal, New York Post and others uncovered conclusive evidence that the staffing, training, and funding of these “protests” are being done by far-left groups based outside of New Jersey and in some cases, outside of the United States.
What is most distressing is to see in many instances, students who cannot even articulate what it is they are protesting. Responses to reporters’ questions ranged from sheer panicked expressions, to “I’m not the one to ask” to ‘ask so and so over there.” It seems that “protests” such as this are motivated more by the fad du jour, rather than any sincerely held beliefs.
Given the fact that these protests are prompted mostly by individuals and organizations who do not even attend the schools, and who in turn, use the small proportion of gullible, enrolled students to do the dirty work, we as taxpayers must ask, why is this being tolerated or worse, engaged?
During the occupation of the Rutgers University New Brunswick campus, the “protestors” had the gall to submit a list of ten demands to the administration. Keep in mind, these are mostly paid, outside agitators with no legal standing who are illegally occupying a taxpayer-funded facility. Couple this with the vandalism of the grounds, interruption of daily operations, threats to other students and costs of additional security and there is even less reason to engage with these individuals.
Sadly, it appears that the Rutgers administration capitulated to most of the demands. Caving in to this silliness only emboldens those whose sole purpose is to create chaos and spew antisemitic vitriol. With Rutgers receiving $470 million in state funding in FY24, the taxpayers deserve a zero-tolerance response to antisemitism and disruptive behavior on campus.
The weak response of many universities to the antisemitic protests has culminated in the disruption of many graduations by a tiny, self-centered, immature group of children who felt the need to ruin a once in a lifetime event for other graduates and their families. The University of California, Berkeley, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Wisconsin, and U.C. Berkeley were all affected. One of the most reported on examples was at Duke University, where beloved comedian Jerry Seinfeld was the keynote speaker. Seinfeld, unabashedly pro-Israel, was disrespected with chants and a walkout by about 20 classless attendees during his speech.
The ability to dissent and publicly protest is essential to the health and well-being of our nation. However, it cannot happen at the expense of everyone else’s rights. It certainly cannot interfere with others’ rights to assemble, move about, and conduct their lives unimpeded.
It is way past time that college presidents grow a backbone, tell the protestors that play time is over and put a stop to the chaos we have witnessed across the country. Without unequivocal enforcement of the law, the fall semester will pick up right where the previous semester left off.
