Columbia University is colluding with the far-right in its attack on students

[Politesse]

If it sounds like bullshit, that's because it is. Why do you believe what you see on tv over what you saw with your own eyes? Did your degree expire so thoroughly that you've now forgotten how to think entirely?

"Tacitly encouraged" with violence and expulsion dealt out to anyone who says anything of the sort? With that kind of "encouragement", who needs persecution?

I have no idea what you're on about. Maybe you'd like to better articulate what the hamster on the wheel in your head is trying to say?

You personally witnessed the college system, and presumably none of the nonsense you talked about was happening there. You weren't radicalized. No one died. You learned some practical subject or other and make a little more money now. You still have no idea what intersectional theory is. But now Fox News tells you that all the traditional subjects have been canceled and only Woke is taught now, and you believe them uncritically. Even though you seem to also realize that such a higher education system would be "absurd", if it existed. Which, of course, it does not.

As for why I'm accusing Columbia of responding to "wokeness" with violence and expulsion, read the fucking thread.

 

[Derec]

I don't like disruptions to my class either, but jumping straight to expulsion over a student demonstration? Seriously?

I have seen no evidence that Columbia jumped "straight to expulsion". Most likely these people were warned/suspended before. Why do I think that? Because Columbia/Barnard have been quite lenient with these creeps. For example:
Barnard reaches resolution with ‘nearly all’ suspended students, spokesperson says

In an email to a student offered amnesty obtained by Spectator, amnesty will be granted following a written notice stating the student will comply with all college policies in the future, successful completion of an “educational project” that includes a 60-minute meeting reviewing the Student Code of Conduct, a subsequent 100-word reflection paper, and a probation period.

So to trigger expulsion, they were almost certainly not first offenders. It's like receiving the second yellow card in a football match, followed by a red, rather than just getting a straight red card. They may have even been in this group of 55 who have gotten amnesty for their previous misdeeds.

What good is free speech if the only penalty for using it "incorrectly" is the maximal punishment?

There is no free speech protection for disrupting a class.

 

[Derec]

Nothing you wrote is a convincing argument for expulsion. There may be more to the story (I certainly would hope so), but without mroe information, I'll stay with my observtion.

It would be a convincing argument for suspension, if first offense. If they have been warned or suspended before, then expulsion is proper.

Maybe, Then again, maybe Columbia's President is "virtue" signalling.

They have been quite lenient before, so I do not see that as likely. Far more likely is that they were disciplined before, and that this is proper escalation of penalties.

 

[Derec]

Btw, there are more Gaza protests going on. And the mask has completely slipped. They are no longer even trying to hide their affiliation.

Barnard protesters distribute Hamas pamphlets during library takeover

Anti-Israel protesters at New York’s Barnard College, an affiliate of Columbia University, distribute Hamas pamphlets during an invasion of a campus library.
Footage shared by protesters shows masked activists waving Palestinian flags, chanting, and waving an effigy of the university president at the Milstein Library.
“Shut it down,” the protesters chant in a megaphone while beating on a drum.

And no, this is no exaggeration. The pamphlets that were distributed bear the Hamas logo.
But according to Don2 (and others), if colleges go after these Hamasniks they are "colluding with the far right".

 

[Colonel Sanders]

If it sounds like bullshit, that's because it is. Why do you believe what you see on tv over what you saw with your own eyes? Did your degree expire so thoroughly that you've now forgotten how to think entirely?

"Tacitly encouraged" with violence and expulsion dealt out to anyone who says anything of the sort? With that kind of "encouragement", who needs persecution?

I have no idea what you're on about. Maybe you'd like to better articulate what the hamster on the wheel in your head is trying to say?

You personally witnessed the college system, and presumably none of the nonsense you talked about was happening there. You weren't radicalized. No one died. You learned some practical subject or other and make a little more money now. You still have no idea what intersectional theory is. But now Fox News tells you that all the traditional subjects have been canceled and only Woke is taught now, and you believe them uncritically. Even though you seem to also realize that such a higher education system would be "absurd", if it existed. Which, of course, it does not.

As for why I'm accusing Columbia of responding to "wokeness" with violence and expulsion, read the fucking thread.

I wasn't an 18 year old kid having bullshit thrust upon me that I'd never heard before. Thankfully my beliefs and lack of beliefs were firmly in place. IOW, my bullshit detector was well developed by then. My opinions are based on experiencing the utter horseshit the university system deems as foregone conclusions.

And what's this about me watching Fox News? Hell of an assumption on your part. I haven't watched that sordid shitshow in over two decades.

But hey, keep fictionalizing the reality of other people. If Trumpers weren't so bereft of intelligence and rife with shocking ignorance, they'd be thanking you and others like you for helping him get back into office.

 

[Politesse]

If it sounds like bullshit, that's because it is. Why do you believe what you see on tv over what you saw with your own eyes? Did your degree expire so thoroughly that you've now forgotten how to think entirely?

"Tacitly encouraged" with violence and expulsion dealt out to anyone who says anything of the sort? With that kind of "encouragement", who needs persecution?

I have no idea what you're on about. Maybe you'd like to better articulate what the hamster on the wheel in your head is trying to say?

You personally witnessed the college system, and presumably none of the nonsense you talked about was happening there. You weren't radicalized. No one died. You learned some practical subject or other and make a little more money now. You still have no idea what intersectional theory is. But now Fox News tells you that all the traditional subjects have been canceled and only Woke is taught now, and you believe them uncritically. Even though you seem to also realize that such a higher education system would be "absurd", if it existed. Which, of course, it does not.

As for why I'm accusing Columbia of responding to "wokeness" with violence and expulsion, read the fucking thread.

I wasn't an 18 year old kid having bullshit thrust upon me that I'd never heard before. Thankfully my beliefs and lack of beliefs were firmly in place. IOW, my bullshit detector was well developed by then. My opinions are based on experiencing the utter horseshit the university system deems as foregone conclusions.

And what's this about me watching Fox News? Hell of an assumption on your part. I haven't watched that sordid shitshow in over two decades.

But hey, keep fictionalizing the reality of other people. If Trumpers weren't so bereft of intelligence and rife with shocking ignorance, they'd be thanking you and others like you for helping him get back into office.

Yes, it's totally the fault of those who aren't willing to overlook his bullshit that he got elected. Not the fault of millions of morons who actually believe his bullshit.

 

[Toni]

Probably what it means in every sentence.

I grew up in the "Nation of Immigrants". I am conservative, I still believe in that.

Nobody who wants to get rid of immigrants, IMNSHO, are "conservative". They are, at best, "progressive". They want to Progress beyond our heritage.

What?! The hatred of immigrants is more American than baseball and apple pie. It is our oldest past time dating no later than the 1850s.

Sorry to disappoint you but hatred/distrust of outsiders is very universal.

 

[Toni]

View attachment 49607

Looks like the 1st amendment is just straight up dead now.

At least he specified "illegal protests".

He will then proclaim them as illegal by executive order, whenever they protest against his actions.

Keep in mind the cops protect masked Nazis all the time, even helping screen the box trucks they use as mobile changing rooms and site access.

He may proclaim them but courts are not rolling over affirming his assertions and power grabs. Not everyone is complying in advance. Judges are certainly not.

Yes, Nazi speech, including wearing costumes is protected speech just as the speech of the KKK is protected. And so is the speech of union organizers and Pride organizers and so on. Protected doesn’t mean risk free or consequence free.

 

[laughing dog]

Looks like expulsions and arrests weren’t enough for Trump - Columbia University just lost $400 million in federal grants.

 

[Jarhyn]

View attachment 49607

Looks like the 1st amendment is just straight up dead now.

At least he specified "illegal protests".

He will then proclaim them as illegal by executive order, whenever they protest against his actions.

Keep in mind the cops protect masked Nazis all the time, even helping screen the box trucks they use as mobile changing rooms and site access.

He may proclaim them but courts are not rolling over affirming his assertions and power grabs. Not everyone is complying in advance. Judges are certainly not.

Yes, Nazi speech, including wearing costumes is protected speech just as the speech of the KKK is protected. And so is the speech of union organizers and Pride organizers and so on. Protected doesn’t mean risk free or consequence free.

And yet, we are still in a situation where the courts are largely being ignored.

Judges simply do not matter here.

 

[Toni]

View attachment 49607

Looks like the 1st amendment is just straight up dead now.

At least he specified "illegal protests".

He will then proclaim them as illegal by executive order, whenever they protest against his actions.

Keep in mind the cops protect masked Nazis all the time, even helping screen the box trucks they use as mobile changing rooms and site access.

He may proclaim them but courts are not rolling over affirming his assertions and power grabs. Not everyone is complying in advance. Judges are certainly not.

Yes, Nazi speech, including wearing costumes is protected speech just as the speech of the KKK is protected. And so is the speech of union organizers and Pride organizers and so on. Protected doesn’t mean risk free or consequence free.

And yet, we are still in a situation where the courts are largely being ignored.

Judges simply do not matter here.

They DO matter. Yes, some universities and other institutions and individuals are obeying in advance. But court rulings DO matter. They change future behavior. This is incredibly important.

Universities are extremely risk averse when it comes to public opinion, from whence
their funding comes. Sure: reputation, prestige, students, etc but this all depends on money so it boils down to $$.

While Reagan started the lie that universities are bastions of left wing propaganda, I’ve never found that to be true. At least in part because most of my coursework was in sciences where there is less opportunity to line about civil rights or so called leftist agendas. And my husband has mostly taught in business schools which tend to be, as you might imagine, lean conservative. Still, in exactly zero of my classes across 3 universities was there ANY leftest indoctrination. The closest was when my female psychology prof noted that there was actually very little size variation

 

[bilby]

Sorry to disappoint you but hatred/distrust of outsiders is very universal.

I would say rather pandemic than universal.

It is characteristic of all peoples, but not of all people.

 

[crazyfingers]

Trump threatens more colleges and universities over pro-Palestinian protests.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/10/us/department-of-education-warning-universities-title-vi-antisemitism/index.html

List of colleges and Universities who got this letter.

U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Sends Letters to 60 Universities Under Investigation for Antisemitic Discrimination and Harassment

The Office for Civil Rights today sent letters to 60 institutions of higher education warning them of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus.

www.ed.gov

I have no idea to what extent Jewish students are actually threatened or discriminated against on US campuses. To the extent that it exists it is wrong.

But I do think that Trump is unable to differentiate between antisemitism and disagreement with the policies of the state of Israel. His fixation on anti-Jewish bigotry while ignoring racism against black people, Palestinian, gays, etc... is interesting. I can't imagine him being concerned about anti-black or anti-Chinese bigotry for example.

It's also long been a puzzle to me about the MAGA coalition. On the one hand he's got evangelicals in his pocket. Evangelicals are very pro-Israel because of their "End-times" theology that will wipe out all the Jews and all non-evangelicals anyway. And on the other hand MAGA has plenty of neo-Nazis with their confederate flags. Charlottesville anyone?

​

 

[Politesse]

Protest at Columbia today.

 

[Harry Bosch]

View attachment 49704
Protest at Columbia today.

Funny! Good for them. Fuck ice. However, I think that protests are near worthless. If people want change, they need to get off their ass and vote!

 

[crazyfingers]

View attachment 49704
Protest at Columbia today.

Why the masks outside. Either the masks are to avoid being identified or the picture is from years ago. So many people would not be wearing masks outside today for Covid.

 

[Elixir]

View attachment 49704
Protest at Columbia today.

Funny! Good for them. Fuck ice. However, I think that protests are near worthless. If people want change, they need to get off their ass and vote!

They had their chance.

 

[Politesse]

View attachment 49704
Protest at Columbia today.

Funny! Good for them. Fuck ice. However, I think that protests are near worthless. If people want change, they need to get off their ass and vote!

College educated people are FAR more likely to vote than other citizens, nearly double if they've completed a post graduate degree.

But protests can also be important. Just ask Estonia!

More to the point, it's hard to "there is unanimous support for our policies" if you just walked past a hundred angry Jews who do not like you at all and never asked to be MacGuffins for the alt-right.

 

[Politesse]

View attachment 49704
Protest at Columbia today.

Why the masks outside. Either the masks are to avoid being identified or the picture is from years ago. So many people would not be wearing masks outside today for Covid.

My guess would be the former. There's a lot of doxxing going down on the campuses these days, hence why so many polities are putting advancing new bans on mask-wearing at protests.

 

[ZiprHead]

Arrest of Palestinian activist stirs questions about protections for students and green card holders

The arrest of a Palestinian activist who helped organize campus protests of the war in Gaza has sparked questions about whether foreign students and green card holders are protected against being deported from the U.S.

apnews.com

ICE agents arrested him without a warrant and kept him hidden for more than 24 hrs. His lawyers have filed a habeus corpus challenge and a judge has decreed he not be deported until a hearing. Khalil has not been charged with any crime. He has permanent resident status.