As the school year comes to a close, students at universities across the nation have reflected on a semester marked by protests, violence, and allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia. At the University of Texas at Austin, students like Anne-Marie Jardine and Arwyn Heilrayne were left feeling disappointed by their school’s response to the protests that occurred on campus. Jardine and Heilrayne were arrested during peaceful protests and were left with physical and psychological trauma after law enforcement officers used violence to disperse protesters. While the charges were later dropped, students felt let down by their university’s lack of support and safety measures.
Similarly, at Columbia University, graduating student Jacob Schmeltz expressed relief at leaving the university after a tumultuous semester. He highlighted the breakdown of trust between students and the university due to the handling of tensions surrounding antisemitism and pro-Palestinian protests. The university’s failure to foster dialogue and address rising concerns about antisemitism and Islamophobia has left students like Schmeltz feeling a lack of faith in the school’s ability to rebuild trust among its community.
At the University of Southern California, recent graduate Eli Hiekali expressed his frustration at the university’s administration’s response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus which were marred by allegations of antisemitism. Hiekali hoped for better days ahead as he felt that hate and violence only exacerbated the already tense situation on campus. Similarly, Danica Gonzalez, a rising sophomore at USC, spoke out about the disparity in the school’s treatment of claims of Islamophobia compared to antisemitism during the protests. The safety and security of all students should be a top priority for universities.
The protests at universities have led to conversations about divestment from financial support of Israel as a key demand from protesters. Schools like Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley have agreed to begin discussions around disclosure and divestment, as well as supporting examinations of their investments in response to the protests. While no school has fully agreed to divestment yet, there is a sense of frustration among students like Gonzalez and Sinq from Pomona College about the lack of transparency regarding financial investments and growing rifts between students and administration.
As tensions continue between students and university administrations, students like Sinq are committed to ongoing protests and demands for divestment until their concerns are heard. While graduation ceremonies at many schools were overshadowed by the ongoing tensions and protests, students like Noa Fay from Barnard College remain hopeful that their school communities will find a way to move past the challenges of the past semester. The issues surrounding freedom of speech, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and divestment are likely to continue shaping conversations on college campuses in the upcoming academic year.
