Engaging Peacefully the Protestors

Job seekers looking for higher ed executive positions often come to this publication looking for opportunities.

If that were me, I dare say after the last few months, one question I’d be prepared to answer is this one: “When do you call the cops, when it comes to campus protests?”

Emil GuillermoThe best answer may be this: “I want to be part of a university that knows its role is to engage and teach students to solve problems using intellect and knowledge.”

Here’s what we should have learned by now. Police should rarely have to enter a campus situation.

Say that in an interview and you will show a rare wisdom we aren’t currently seeing on the vast majority of campuses.

The reality is protests aren’t going away until we see an Israel-Hamas ceasefire. And even then, it will only be temporary. Given that, the protests are really here to stay, at least until the heads of state figure out how to end the conflict peacefully without being viewed as antisemitic.

But the situation on campus should be controllable if people understand the role of the university and how to move forward. As long as the university and protestors are talking to each other and engaged positively, in good faith discussions, we’re moving in the right direction.