I haven’t viewed the question of providing safety for the Jews as a competition among universities, @circuitrider . If Jewish students at Chicago feel unsafe, I would be sorry to hear it, but a great educational institution must focus on its mission. Physical threats are one thing and must never be allowed, but the word “safety” has been often used, illegitimately in my opinion, as a means of fending off speech and ideas that make students uncomfortable. That could apply to Jewish students as much as to any other group of students. It certainly applied to Christian-believing students in my time on campus. A President of the University, Hannah Holborn Gray, once said that being made uncomfortable is the necessary condition of a good education. In my experience Jewish kids were very welcoming of debate and very well able to look out for themselves.
@Chekov , the dropping of charges was the decision, as I understand it, of the Chicago DA’s office, which had the conduct of the criminal charges. However, a notation will appear on the university records of these students, and this is being protested. I suppose the University could, if it wished, take other forms of disciplinary action against them. I would have to know more of the details of the situation to form a real opinion. Aristotle would say that prudence is a virtue in such situations.
And as for “straw-manning,” @circuitrider , a learned prof once said that that accusation should never be made in the course of an argument without demonstrating why the man is made of straw. Otherwise it’s a slur, not an argument.
@circuitrider , one man’s “talking point” is another man’s “lucid, cogent, and elegant statement of a thesis.” Modesty forbids me from disclosing which characterization best applies here.
"Hundreds of students are rallying throughout Columbia University’s campus in New York.
The protest is reportedly organized by Students for Justice in Palestine, which is supposed to have been suspended from campus for the rest of the academic year.
Students are heard calling for an “intifada,” referring to deadly Palestinian uprisings that included participants carrying out suicide attacks that killed scores of Israelis.
Another chant repeated is, “Yemen, Yemen make us proud, turn another ship around” — a message in support of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which the US deems to be a terror organization.
Protesters are also chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which critics say is a call for the removal of the state of Israel.
A sticker photographed on a university trashcan features an antisemitic message: “Zionist donors and trustees, hands off our universities.”"
Shai Davidai: "To make it clear to everyone that they mean free of Jews, they marched on @Columbia’s campus shouting a similar chant in Arabic that translates to:
“FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA PALESTINE WILL BE ARAB”
For them, Jews don’t have a right to exist in their state."
“The group, MIT Coalition Against Apartheid, made its threat in a December Instagram post. “When we return next semester,” the group said, “we will be even stronger and even bigger to make sure that there is no business as usual at MIT until Palestine is free! From the river to the sea.””
“No business as usual” is a direct threat of rules violation.
There’s a side of me thinking “Go ahead. Make. My. Day.”
I’d guess there are some transfer applicants thinking the same thing…
No issues with “Times of Israel” as a source, but “The Washington Free Beacon” is far right and lacks journalistic standards for truth.
Media Bias Fact Check states, “Overall, we rate the Washington Free Beacon Right Biased based on story selection that favors the right and Mixed for factual reporting due to misleading and false claims.”
An example of their stories that failed fact checking, 1) Biden Admin To Fund Crack Pipes, Heroin For Drug Addicts, and 2) Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar held “secret fundraisers” with "Islamic groups tied to terror.
It might be wise to withhold judgment on the MIT story until it’s collaborated by a better source.
That’s only if their conduct codes cover such transgressions. (And I’d be they do not, and won’t anytime soon. Remember, teh academic solution is to establish a Committee to come up with recommendations.)
“Let me say this loud and clear: No one has a right to interrupt the education of our students. The classroom is sacrosanct. (Classroom disruptions have only occurred a handful of times – though unfortunately viewed millions of times on social media – but we’re providing instructors with updated guidelines to handle them.) And it is also out of bounds to disrupt the essential work of our faculty and staff in our offices and labs.”
If by “no business as usual” the CAA agitators mean actually violating rules regarding time, place, and manner of expression, and otherwise disrupting the learning and work at MIT, then there are in fact policies in place for dealing with that, and President Kornbluth, no doubt, understands what is at stake both for the institution she is charged with leading, and her personally, should she allow these disturbances to continue.
"MIT prohibits disorderly conduct. Disorderly conduct is defined as any unreasonable or reckless conduct by an individual or group that is inherently or potentially unsafe to other persons or to their real or personal property, and/or any behavior that disrupts the peace or interferes with the normal operation of the Institute or Institute-sponsored activities.
Disorderly conduct includes making unreasonable noise, disrupting a lawful meeting, obstructing pedestrian or vehicle traffic, or creating a hazardous situation."
“The Committee on Discipline has the authority to impose any sanction it deems appropriate. Possible sanctions include placing a letter in a student’s disciplinary file, probation, suspension, and expulsion.”
“Some reports concern individuals’ behavior, while others focus on the actions of organizations.
…
As of January 12, 2024, 21 cases are in various stages of the complaint resolution process.”
I’m going to close this temporarily for clean up. I will remove or edit posts about liberal lefties and right wing alternative fact-ers. Posts that are too off topic May also be removed or edited.
We have a politics forum and it might be a good idea for some of you to take some of your ideas over there. Thanks for your cooperation.