How Universities Are Trying to Stop Another Year of Anti-War Activism

Big public universities, historically at the forefront of catalyzing activist movements, are now using legal action, disciplinary efforts, and rule changes to chill speech and dissent.

The signs appeared on the university’s main quad during the week of October 7, 2024 — after a year of student protests springing up nationwide against Israel’s war on Gaza. 

The “Notice of Restrictions” posted at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill’s campus included a list of do’s and don’ts — mostly don’ts. Don’t wear masks to conceal one’s identity. Don’t throw any objects, besides those traditionally used for recreational purposes, like a frisbee. Don’t set up camp: “No temporary structures whatsoever, including but not limited to stages, tents, chairs, hammocks, tables, signs and displays.”

Do carry a student ID if you need to access certain buildings. 

The new rules appeared designed to stifle student protests, without explicitly saying as much.

“It’s a vague threat for anyone who wants to organize, to anyone that wants to express their First Amendment rights,” said one UNC student who was arrested at an anti-war protest. The intent, they said, is to tell potential activists, “‘Hey, this is all the things that we can get you on, so you better not even try.’”

Big public universities have historically been at the forefront of catalyzing activist movements, from the civil rights movement, to anti-Vietnam War protests to calls for divestment from apartheid-era South Africa. Now, these institutions are using legal action, disciplinary efforts, and campus rule changes to chill speech and dissent. 

As a result, students may be risking their physical, academic, and long-term professional prospects simply for exercising their right to be heard.

At some of the country’s largest and most prestigious public universities — UNC–Chapel Hill; University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and the University of California, Los Angeles — first came the mass arrests, then came crackdowns on rules intended to suppress free speech and protests.

“College students often have a really important role in social change in the country,” said Graeme Blair, a political science professor at UCLA, who was among UCLA faculty arrested at a spring protest. “The implications are pretty serious, not just for speech on Palestine, but for speech on other unpopular issues, which in many ways is the point of protests.”

When asked to comment on disciplinary actions against protesters, neither UCLA nor UMass Amherst responded to inquiries. 

The administration at UNC responded vaguely, writing that the school “supports the rights of all community members to demonstrate peacefully as part of their First Amendment rights. However, everyone must follow University policies, and we must enforce our policies and local/state laws equitably across the board, no matter the viewpoint.”

Arrests and Punishments 

Across the country, protesters on college campuses have faced criminal charges including trespassing, failure to disperse, resisting arrest, and assault of government officials. 

At UMass Amherst, more than 135 people — a mix of faculty, students and community members — were arrested on May 7. Thirty-six protesters were detained at the UNC–Chapel Hill, with six arrested, in April. At UCLA, police arrested 231 people during a six-week period from May to June. 

The six arrested at UNC–Chapel Hill have been offered plea deals; however, a student who spoke with The Intercept on the condition they not be named refused to accept the offer. “That is justice without trial,” they said. “You don’t actually get to determine whether what you did was wrong, you are forced to come to that conclusion yourself without actual knowledge of the legal system.”

Not all punishment takes the form of criminal charges. Demonstrators have faced academic probations, ranging from restrictions on participation in school organizations to putting degrees and academic records on hold, preventing students from graduating. 

The UNC student said they’d been put on disciplinary probation, which required them to complete 30 hours of community service by September 1 and prevents them from joining club sports or participating in student government. 

Story Young, a student protester from UMass, said they were placed on poor disciplinary standing for disruptive behavior and unauthorized use of property. This standing serves as a warning that heftier consequences, such as suspension or expulsion, could occur if they were to get in trouble again. 

With the threat of future punishment hanging over their head, Young finds it hard to take UMass’s motto seriously: “Be Bold. Be True. Be Revolutionary.” 

At a hearing with the administration on October 25, Young was found guilty. They maintained in the appeal that they did not commit the infractions. Young suspects the administration won’t be swayed by the appeal, and said their goal in filing it was to take as much time as possible from an institution in which they have lost faith: “I see the administration now as nothing more than a business whose sole purpose is to extract everything it can from me.” 

Faculty Repercussions 

Kevin Young (no relation to Story Young), a tenured history professor at UMass Amherst and participant in the large on-campus protest in May, was arrested mere moments after serving as a faculty witness in a negotiations meeting between the administration and protest organizers, he said. 

“The students, understandably, felt like that was a betrayal of their trust,” he said. “Like the negotiations were not actually happening in good faith if the implication was that they would be arrested if they disagreed with the administration.” 

Kevin Young said his participation felt like a way of showing support for his students. 

While charges against him were dropped with a limited probation that he said required individuals to avoid criminal charges for three months, he was investigated by the university and received a letter of warning from the administration on September 4.

In a write-up outlining the findings against Kevin Young, the UMass associate provost for academic personnel wrote: “Contrary to Professor Young’s contention that his remaining at the encampment would serve to protect students, I find that it set a very poor example for them. As an intellectual guide and counselor, it is reasonable to expect that our professors will counsel and guide students not to violate the law and University policy. Professor Young did not do that but rather modeled conduct that ultimately led to his arrest.”

“What they kept saying to us is, and what they’re still saying today, is as faculty you need to use your influence to dissuade them from engaging in any disruptive activism,” Kevin Young said. “So that’s the way that they’re trying to utilize the faculty against the student organizers.”

“They’re using the disciplinary system and the new set of rules to make life as difficult as possible so that they can dissuade people from coming out.”

Similarly, Blair, the UCLA professor, was forced to go through a disciplinary process after his arrest. He is suing the university alleging the violation of his First Amendment rights. He believes he was denied promotion to a full professor as a result.

“In addition to the arrests, the university added insult to injury and decided to send every person who was arrested — students, faculty, and staff — through a disciplinary process, even though what they were doing was exercising their constitutional right to free speech,” Blair said. 

One other faculty member and two graduate students have also sued the UC Regents.

“They’re using the disciplinary system and the new set of rules to make life as difficult as possible so that they can dissuade people from coming out,” Blair said. “They’re not being successful in that but it is an extraordinary use of their power.”

Difficult Choices

The response on the UNC campus to the new rules has been mixed: Some community members are now hesitant to speak out, while others are fueled to fight back. 

“It’s unabashedly authoritarian, so I must laugh at it, right?” said the UNC student who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “You must laugh unless you cry.” 

The goal of protests is simple, the student said; it’s to raise awareness for an injustice they can’t ignore. “The whole point about protesting is that it draws a spectacle, it draws the attention of everyone around them to say what is actually happening here, what are they protesting for,” the student said. “‘Oh, they’re protesting because there’s 40,000 dead.’” 

The student said they are anxious about the increased security on campus but still intend to support the Palestinian solidarity movement and remain a member of Students for Justice in Palestine.

Since the new regulations were announced, however, no encampments have been established on UNC’s campus, only a picket and various vigils. Earlier this month, about 150 protesters turned out at UCLA. Campus police arrested four of the demonstrators.