Yes, and that includes positions that are floridly wrong. Many of those presently being wrong at the top of their lungs will mellow as they get older. Extremism is largely the sport of the young.
This is not to excuse their wrongness, least of all any threats to their fellow students. It’s just that youthful black-and-white thinking is on full display at moments like these.
Agree. Big difference between a political protest against a government and a call for the murder of a people. Some of these protests are celebrating the massacre of Jews and calling for more. You have a right to speech not a right to death threats. And I have a right to not give you my tuition money.
We’re Catholic, but I’m not spending money on any school that allows their students to harass, threaten, or assault Jews. I wouldn’t spend money on a school that allows the intimidation or assault of Black people either. I don’t actually see why there’s even a question here.
More importanly, Berkely is a large campus, and the vast majority of demonstrations occur in a tiny area (for maximum tv exposure). It is very easy to miss all the commotion and remain safe by taking a circuitous route. I would assume the same is true at other large public Unis.
Yes, I will accept that they’ll get it wrong, half of the times.
But I also expect, that sometimes time will prove it having been “my” half. 
No doubt!
I am curious how some posters expect a university to monitor and control students’ behavior. Maybe their image is a LAC the size of a large high school where everyone knows everyone else. But, how does a university with 35k-55k adult students exert control, and is that the role we should expect of a university?
If a group of students were holding a rally to protest the presence of Black students on their campus do you think the university would find and punish them?
If a group of students were advocating for the rape of female classmates do you think the school would investigate?
If students were holding a demonstration advocating for the gassing of LgBTQ+ students would the schools intervene?
You couldn’t have said it any better.
Replace “black” with “Jew” and there would be an outcry with what’s happening on campuses. College presidents would be falling over themselves to condemn it first. Like you, I don’t even know why this is being debated.
Free speech is one thing; colleges not condemning content of that speech is a disgrace.
If the University has conduct rules against hate crimes, the University has a responsibility to enforce those rules.
And no matter the opinion hatred that instigates violence (or calls to irradicate any people) should not be considered freedom of speech. If this is lawful under current laws, people should force authorities to revise such laws.
Are we waiting for another Kristallnacht before any government actions?
Op-Ed by Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law:
Looks like slowly some people and government realize that situation is out of control. Look what happened in Russian (Dagestan) airport. People got almost killed. If US will not stop antisemitic /hate activities no amount of police will be able to stop riots like was the case in Russia.
The only good thing to come out of this debacle on campuses is that the myth of “we’re not antisemitic, we’re anti-Israel” has finally been burst in all his glory.
I don’t think that this is the general consensus among students, unfortunately.
Millions of people in Israel are not Jewish. Only 73% report their faith as Jewish, per Wikipedia.
Sure. And HAMAS killed some Arabs too in October 7th attack…
Hopefully the perpetrators of that directed hate speech / criminal threats can be found out by law enforcement and dealt with accordingly.
There will always be bad apples in any grouping.
Nothing says leadership more than appointing a committee weeks after the fact.
Real profile in courage…
“As we grapple with this resurgence of bigotry, I want to make one thing absolutely clear: Antisemitism has no place at Harvard,” Gay said in a speech Friday at a Shabbat dinner hosted by Harvard Hillel, a Jewish campus group. “For years, this university has done too little to confront its continuing presence. No longer,”
In front of a largely Jewish audience renounces anti semitism, throws prior leadership under the bus, and responds three weeks late only once major donors withhold donations and call for her to resign.
Hardly leadership or courage, but at least a start.
Agree…100%. Too late too little…