The Cocktail Party Contrarian: The Protestors Are Entitled to Free Speech, Not Free Rein

Protestors, sincere or otherwise, cannot be allowed to displace students trying to study for finals, get to class, and graduate. Yet they do exactly that because the spirit of academia is broken.

AP/Craig Ruttle
New York City police enter an upper floor of Hamilton Hall on the Columbia University campus using a tactical vehicle, April 30, 2024, after the building was taken over by protesters. AP/Craig Ruttle

Many are cheering the University of Mississippi fraternity brothers who answered campus protestors with a loud rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, as well as the clever minds who launched a Go Fund Me campaign to hire a Mariachi band to play at the University of Pennsylvania’s encampment. These and other similarly spirited responses to the unchecked rage and resentment unleashed across academia are unendingly satisfying because they show that students, unlike their school administrators, understand the nature of the threat they face and are willing to confront it. 

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