Prior encounters with police didn’t negatively affect student views of campus police, but perceptions varied among students from different ethnic and racial groups and LGBTQ+ students.
Students erect ‘shantytowns’ at Johns Hopkins University in 1986 to call for divestment from South Africa.
JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado via Getty Images
In the 1980s, university administrators called the police on anti-apartheid protesters, threatened to revoke their scholarships and ordered staff to demolish encampments.
A protester cleans up after a pro-Palestinian demonstration ended peacefully at Brown University.
AP Photo/David Goldman
In most cases, it’s reasonable to expect that groups of protesters will abide by the law. But there are times when doing so diminishes the effectiveness of the protests.
Some students walked out on Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s commencement speech at Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2024.
The Washington Post via Getty Images
The right commencement speaker can create a memorable experience, generate favorable media coverage for the school and inspire donors. So why do colleges miss the mark on this once-a-year decision?
A ‘divest from death’ banner at a University of Oregon protest against the Israel-Hamas war on April 29, 2024.
AP Photo/Jenny Kane
While most colleges and universities have their own police units, some schools, like Columbia University, have only private security − and then can call in outside police when they feel it is needed.
A student is arrested during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the University of Texas at Austin on April 24, 2024.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, conservative activists led a counterattack against campus antiwar and civil rights demonstrators by demanding action from college presidents, the courts and the police.