Columbia University's past failures to address campus protests have resurfaced, leaving the school's future in doubt.
In the annals of higher education, the events of April 30, 1968, stand as a watershed moment for Columbia University. A headline in the campus newspaper, the Spectator, proclaimed, "Violent solution follows failure of negotiations." Fifty-six years later, history has repeated itself, with another wave of protests engulfing the prestigious institution.
As a student at Columbia's business school in 1968, I witnessed firsthand the chaos that ensued. Protesters barricaded the school, hurling bricks and other objects at students. The administration's timid response emboldened the occupiers, who seized five buildings and held a dean hostage. Only after a week of inaction did campus leaders call in the police to restore order, arresting nearly 700 protesters.
The mistakes of 1968 have been echoed in the recent protests, which have been marked by the same vitriol and violence. Once again, the administration has failed to take swift action, allowing chaos to spiral out of control. More than 100 protesters have been arrested, with reports of injuries in the hallways of an Ivy League institution.
The root cause of Columbia's failures lies in its leadership's pandering to a small number of radicals at the expense of the majority of students. They have drawn red lines but hesitated to enforce them, creating an environment of impunity. Worst of all, they have failed to instill in students a proper understanding of civic rights and duties.
Freedom of speech, a fundamental element of higher education, carries with it a moral responsibility to listen to others. In the current climate, however, disagreement is met with hostility and violence. The pursuit of diversity and inclusion has morphed into a push for cancellation and indoctrination, suffocating free discourse.
The protests at Columbia are a microcosm of a broader trend in higher education. Campuses nationwide have become breeding grounds for intolerance and intimidation. Students must be taught to debate without violence, to disagree without being disagreeable.
The future of Columbia University hangs in the balance. Its leaders must learn from the mistakes of the past and present. They must reorient the school towards true education, where students are encouraged to engage in open discourse and respect the rights of others.
If they fail to act, history will continue to rhyme, with Columbia facing a bleak future as one of America's most prestigious institutions succumbs to chaos and intolerance.
