The goal for university administrators is that, no matter what happens in the outside world, the campus still has a culture of cooperation, said Eboo Patel, the founder of Interfaith America, a nonprofit that seeks to bridge religious divides and works with over 600 university campuses. “Most people understand and really do expect of higher education … that college campuses are places where you go that you’ll be challenged by new ideas and where you’ll have the opportunity to challenge those viewpoints.” “It’s not unusual, not even uncommon, for there to be hard-fought arguments on campuses and corresponding debates on what are the appropriate limits on freedom of speech,” Fansmith, the senior vice president of government relations and national engagement, told CNN. Even so, debate on such fraught topics is exactly what college campuses are all about, according to Jon Fansmith of the American Council on Education, a membership organization consisting of more than 1,700 colleges and universities. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict garners intense feelings, and the debate can and has spilled over into incivility and unreasonableness. “I think we’re seeing how when you have such deeply entrenched feelings and opinions, it becomes difficult to engage without creating pressure for anyone who disagrees with a particular side.”Ĭolumbia students participate in a rally and vigil in support of Israel in response to a neighboring student rally in support of Palestinians at the university on October 12. “We’re seeing that this is incredibly controversial because of the history of the conflict and the passions that history sparks on both sides of the issue,” said Michelle Deutchman, the executive director of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. But the current debate on the Israel-Gaza war is so emotionally fraught because it’s part of a much broader history, experts on college campus speech told CNN, and the intensity of the backlash to their protected free speech shows what happens on campus does not always stay on campus. Political debate and protest have long roiled college campuses on any number of topics. And a handful of faculty members have been disciplined while vocal students have faced backlash for taking sides. Wealthy donors have pledged to pull funding from universities, citing mealy mouthed statements from administrators. Students have protested and issued calls to action. College campuses across the United States have been at a fever pitch in the past week over statements from students, professors and administrators related to Hamas’ attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.

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