While I’m sure alumni have always been perplexed by campus protests and have occasionally cut contributions, what makes this round a bit different is that some administrations seem spineless in the face of demands that often seem ridiculous.
Students protesting is a normal state of affairs on most campuses. Administrations making decisions to meet the demand-du-jour is without maintaining a long-term perspective is no doubt more problematic for alumni. The apparent bias in free speech is also getting worse. Bad behavior, like repeatedly interrupting an invited speaker, is going to happen from time to time. Alums can accept that the behavior may occur, but are less tolerant when the university’s administration fails to act in a decisive way to discipline offenders or prevent future occurrences.
Maybe it’s the previously discussed “customer orientation” that is now part of so many schools’ modus operandi. If the customers are demanding something, we’ve got to keep them happy, right?