It has always been and should always be a right for the people of the United States of America to protest about what they feel is unjust in their country. Students have always been a big part of protests, creating the precedent in 1956 when Iowa high school students wore black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam War. The lawsuit went to the Supreme Court in a case known as Tinker v. Des Moines, where it was determined that students of public schools also held the right to evoke the First Amendment without censorship from school officials. College campuses are central to many Palestinian protests this year, Columbia’s being the most famous, but North Carolina’s own local UNC-Chapel Hill is among the active ones. However, the administration for these campuses tends to shut down these protests quickly. This is a disappointing display against what America is supposed to stand for: the right for everyone to express their beliefs in a safe manner. 

The protests at Columbia University have been widely reported on for the student-led protest, heightened by media presence during the Pulitzer Prize decision process taking place. Their strategies for dealing with peaceful protest have been heavily looked down upon in online spaces, citing their aggression towards the occupation of green spaces on campus. They have arrested nearly 300 student protestors during the now month-long encampment. Recently, however, Columbia put out a press release about their handling of the Vietnam War protests and how the tarnishment of their reputation following that debacle took them nearly 20 years to repair. Yet, they appear to be handling Palestinian protests in a similar way, which leads to concerns about their knowledge of the phrase: “Those who choose not to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Students should never be arrested for peaceful protest on their school’s campus, as it is their First Amendment right.

In a more local sense, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has joined the protest. Gathering in courtyards and green spaces, the protest has now spanned over 3 months. However, the most recent development is distressing for many. Campus Y, a program that hosts many buildings and experiences on campus, put out a statement against the police brutality on campus toward the protestors. Two days later, on May 2, the program was shut down by the administration. Starting May 2, 2024, all campus resources the program ran are discontinued indefinitely. Losses include wheelchair-accessible and gender-neutral bathrooms, the reproductive resource and food pantry, financial autonomy for 22 campus committees, the on-campus coffee shop Meantime Coffee Co., which hosts 20+ jobs for students, the Bonner Leaders program, which works with local charities and community organizations to volunteer, the Global Gap and Bridge Year programs, which lead their summer abroad and gap year programs, study spaces and classrooms across campus, and Owen’s Memorial Study Space and Library. All of these buildings and programs are maintained and run by Campus Y, and following its shutdown, all of these resources are closed indefinitely. 

Graduation occurred May 3, so while this may not be an issue for most students, many of these services like the Mutual Aid food pantry are open for help year-round, and closing these resources can cause many in the community. The closure of such a helpful service is appalling, especially considering there is no plan to reopen any of these resources in a timely manner. The website (link) has amassed a large number of student testimonials about the shutdown of the program and the resulting fallout.

The result of these protests is that schools have been canceling commencements. The high school class of 2020 did not get a high school graduation due to COVID-19 shutdowns, and then students at schools like Columbia University once again missed graduation because administrators feared issues would arise due to protests. The protests were peaceful and non-violent until police intervention. The protests will likely continue until change is made, which could be months from now.