Critics claim that a series of new rules restricting anti-Israel protests on college campuses infringe on free speech, but a Cornell Law professor told Fox News Digital that many of the new rules are explicit statements of existing rules and simply protect the right of Jewish and Israeli students to be safe on campus.
The summer holidays offered a respite from protests against the Israel-Hamas war that swept through universities across the country. As students prepare to return to campus this fall, higher education officials have been strategizing to balance students’ rights to protest with the safety of other students and attendance at classes they pay tuition to take.
“Schools have to balance students’ right to an education with the right of other students to protest,” William Jacobson, a Cornell Law professor and founder of equalprotect.org, told Fox News Digital.
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The risks of such intervention are high: Last week, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned after being accused of allowing anti-Israel agitators to run wild on campus without intervening or disciplining them.
New rules imposed on college campuses include banning camping, only allowing protests in designated areas, restricting campus access to anyone without a university ID, requiring protesters to pre-register, restricting the use of amplified sound during classes, removing signs within two weeks of a protest, and limiting the duration of demonstrations.
In a statement last week, the American Association of University Professors condemned the “overly restrictive policies” that it said stifle freedom of expression.
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“Our universities should encourage, not stifle, open and lively dialogue and debate about even the most deeply held beliefs,” the statement said, adding that many policies were imposed without faculty input.
Lisa Liberwitz, a professor of labor and employment at Cornell University, said: He told NBC “We are seeing a resurgence of repression on college campuses not seen since the late 1960s.”
But Jacobson said in most places, “additional measures are already in place.”
“Many of the things people are complaining about were already implicit in the rules. [had not been stated] Clearly,” he said.
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For example, Cornell University already has a policy banning camping on campus grounds, and while the camping is currently prohibited, technically it was already in violation of university rules, he said.
The University of Pennsylvania has outlined new “interim guidelines” for student protests, including a ban on camping, overnight demonstrations, and the use of loudspeakers after 5pm on school days, but says it will continue to respect lawful assembly and free speech.
Indiana University has banned nighttime protests and protests after 11 pm under a new “expressive activity policy” that went into effect on August 1. Camping of any kind is prohibited on campus, and signs on university grounds require prior permission. At the University of South Florida, canopies, banners, signs, and loudspeakers require permission, and no protest “activity” is permitted after 5 pm or during final exam periods in the last two weeks of the semester.
“A lot of this work is trying to address actual abuses that have happened,” Jacobson told Fox News Digital.
“A lot of what’s going on right now is not actually freedom of expression, it’s intimidation. People using megaphones in buildings are not there to express themselves, they’re there to intimidate others,” he said. “Most of the people who complain about these rules are people who want to intimidate others.”
“A lot of what’s going on right now is not actually freedom of expression, it’s intimidation.”
“The university is trying to create a toxic atmosphere on campus for supporters of Israel, particularly Jewish supporters of Israel,” he continued.
Jacobson acknowledged that the university is “a little strict” in banning protests after 5 p.m.
“But just because the concepts of these rules are reasonable doesn’t mean that all of them are reasonable,” he said.
Jacobson said there is a “no doubt” that some of these new policies will be challenged, particularly those imposed by public universities.
But he said, “As long as there are reasonable time, place and manner restrictions consistent with the Constitution, [for example]There can be no loudspeakers in the buildings, and no encampments that disrupt student flow.”
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Jacobson described criticism of the new rules as “bullying by whining.”
“One pattern we see is the frequent occurrence of what’s known as ‘whining bullying.’ [Anti-Israel protesters] They intimidate people, bully them, and create a hostile environment. [But] “When someone says, ‘You can’t do that,’ they cry as if their rights are being violated,” Jacobson said.
“They’re looking for an exception to the rules that everyone else has to follow, and I think that’s what’s creating this situation — whining bullies who think they don’t have to follow the rules that everyone else has to follow,” he said.
