Are Boycotts So Legal?

As American universities and colleges grow their demographics, diversity and ideas there is a continued and an accelerated debate regarding freedom of speech within these higher education institutions. College campuses are struggling to simultaneously provide a learning environment that is inclusive to traditionally unrepresented students while also providing an environment that allows for ideas to be challenged and debated no matter how offensive or controversial.

Colleges and universities have found numerous ways throughout the years to protect their students from the outside world. One measure that colleges have taken to ensure this is that they have stopped continuing to allow comedians and speakers present at their schools due to upset students. These students did not care for the jokes that were being made by the speakers. Another measure taken by colleges is that minority students can eliminate anything they do not want to think about, read about, or be challenged

It was a peculiar sight indeed: an institutional effort to limit the exposure of the student body to a branch of thought simply because of fear of a regressive society’s reproach. Nonetheless, I began seeking answers elsewhere.

The consistent offensive behavior being aimed at multiple communities, has impacted students significantly. There were periods when people were scared to even walk alone on campus, due to threats and bullying.

contended that the refusal to admit the children to the school was a denial of

Just last week a nation-wide campaign rejected the anti-Sematic vote, known to most as the anti-Israel Boycott Disinvestment and Sanction (BDS), which occurred in the Student’s Society of McGill University (SSMU), at the General Assembly (GA) in Montreal, Canada.

In today’s society, academic freedom is a topic of much concern and debate, especially in the field of higher education. While the classroom is meant to be a safe place to debate, it must also be an environment that is respectable in terms of difference of opinion, That being said, faculty and staff of academic institutions across the United States should uphold “academic responsibility by submitting their knowledge and claims to rigorous and public review by peers who are experts in the subject matter under consideration; to ground their arguments in the best available evidence; and to work together to foster the education of students”(Association of American Colleges, 2016). However, while such responsibility should be upheld throughout all colleges and universities, some academic environments make their religious rights and privileges clearer compared to other institutions.

“The Nazis should have finished their job!” booms out from a speaker at a podium in the middle of a large US college campus. Other anti-Semitic insults are thrown about in the crowd listening. Cutting through the crowd, you see signs and banners on the platform where the speaker was. This was a planned event by the university. Pamphlets showing pictures of dying Arabs are passed out, screaming the message “This is the Israelis doing!” You aren’t sure what to think. One phrase you can understand on many of the signs is ‘The BDS Movement’. The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Movement is an anti-Semitic group that has been misrepresenting Israel and the Jewish religion to religious groups, colleges, and the media for a long time. They receive their information from the Arab governments who are highly anti-Semitic and have extreme prejudice of the people of Israel. Abusing their own people, the Arab governments make it seem that it is always Israel who preys on innocent people when in fact it is the opposite. The BDS movement specifically promotes discrimination and violence towards the Jewish community through the use of anti-Semitic media, influencing US college campuses and church groups.

Censorship impacts how many people live their lives and what they are allowed to witness; Geoffrey R. Stone and Will Creeley write about the freedom of expression and the abolishment of censorship for college students and universities in “Resorting Free Speech on Campus.” Stone and Creeley effectively use a personal observation, a quote from a prominent individual, the bias technique, and irony in order to convince readers to take their side and agree to abort censorship for college students.

On the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, a strike is being held by the Non-Tenured Faculty Coalition, which is an established union consisting of 500 non-tenured faculty members. The group of lecturers, researchers, clinical professors, etc. arose as a result of their short contracts and the University’s refusal to negotiate their terms.

College administrations have tried very little, and accomplished even less when it comes to dealing with anti-Semitism on campuses. Many administrators are reluctant to treat Jewish victimization in the way they it treats complaints of mistreatment from people of color and women. Administrative indifference to anti-Israel, anti-Jewish incidents on the University of California a Irvine campus was so severe that the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) was compelled a decade ago to file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education alleging violations of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Administration is determined to protect free speech, and does so by ignoring anti-Semitism that is disguised at anti-Zionism. However, there should be a red line between protecting students’ free speech, including repugnant speech involving Jews and Israel. Administration should be held accountable for campus- sanctioned groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) when they engage in behavior such as disrupting pro-Israel speakers or setting up blatant mechanisms designed to intimidate Jewish

Yale, a prestigious learning institution, has been plagued by political correctness on its campus. A lecturer, Erika Christakis, suggested a thought of possibly wearing offensive Halloween costumes and stated this "American universities were once a safe space not only for maturation but also for a certain regressive, or even transgressive, experience; increasingly, it seems, they have become places of censure and prohibition" ("I Hope this Offends You."). Students at Yale responded to this statement by trying to get her fired because they thought it was such an atrocity that somebody could support peoples first amendment and let people wear whatever costumes they want even if it offends people. This is a common trend at colleges all across the nation by letting them criticise instructors for offending them or causing them some emotional stress by statements. Occidental College, the education institution behind of our president has been plagued by the “PC Police” according to an article published by the New York Post, “Occidental kids are demanding a “microaggression” monitoring system that would empower them to report faculty members who’ve offended them” (Post Editorial Board). These students are putting the educators who are supposed to be teaching the topics in a true and unbiased manner in a hot seat and

But not if they liked Gore” (Dolgow). The same cannot occur on a college campus, however the fear remains on information on others can be used or freedom of expression in a college setting. The fact remains that there is a substantial difference between a corporation and a university. Universities are meant to be a place of learning and just like science is able to accept new theories, we should be willing to accept new ideas. Building tolerance as a community allows us to embraces unpopular ideas.

Some colleges and universities across the country are experiencing post-election incidents that cause many students to feel unsafe. The taunting of campus women, racial and ethnic minorities, and members of the LGBTQ community has increased at some colleges and universities across the country as well.

This is also a display of conflicting resources. The university has a diminishing budget. Many groups on campus have been affected by this and are claiming whatever power they have left to keep their remaining budget. If one group makes a mistake and the other has a chance to claim some of their budget, they surely will. This changes the dynamic that departments have with each other.