By Daniel J. Samet
Friday, April 26, 2024
Student radicals and outside agitators who had
watched university administrators capitulate to mob tactics at Columbia, Yale, and other
universities thought they could get away with the same antics in Texas. Boy
were they wrong.
When pro-Hamas protesters descended upon the University
of Texas at Austin (UT) on Wednesday, they did not have the free rein to
disrupt campus life that they’ve enjoyed elsewhere. Instead, they were met with
a massive show of force that should serve as an example to other schools
struggling to quell unauthorized protests on their campuses.
The Palestine Solidarity Committee’s Austin chapter
organized Wednesday’s event. The group called for students to walk out of class
at 11:40 a.m. and then “occupy” the campus’ South Lawn until after
7:00 p.m. Protesters were to follow “the footsteps of our comrades at
Columbia” while establishing “the Popular University for Gaza,” the group wrote
on Instagram.
It was a brazen act of lawlessness meant to take over campus so protesters
could glorify terrorism and spread blood libels against the Jewish people. Any
and all universities committed to keeping their students safe cannot let such
things go ahead.
UT made clear beforehand that it would not let the
protesters have their way. The protest “has declared intent to violate our
policies and rules, and disrupt our campus operations,” UT’s Office of the Dean
of Students told the Palestine Solidarity Committee in a letter on
Tuesday. It added: “The University of Texas at Austin will not allow this
campus to be ‘taken’ and protesters to derail our mission in ways that groups
affiliated with your national organization have accomplished elsewhere.” The
letter stated that students who did not comply could be suspended and arrested.
UT’s line in the sand was unambiguous.
Hundreds of protestors came anyway, bringing tents in hopes of replicating the scenes at
Columbia. Many assumed the university would buckle rather than make good on its
warning. But UT showed commendable backbone. A small army of state troopers
clad in riot gear, as well as other law-enforcement officials, were
there to greet the protest. Their presence wasn’t just for show. According to
the Travis County Sherrif’s Office, 57 protesters were arrested. UT took such swift and decisive action that
it put down the protest within hours. This stands in marked contrast with the
encampments that other schools have allowed to proliferate for days. “UT Austin
does not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations like we have
seen at other campuses,” the school said in a separate statement.
Governor Greg Abbott deserves great credit for not
surrendering to mob rule. On March 27, he issued an executive order to combat antisemitism in higher
education. “Texas supports free speech, especially on university campuses, but
that freedom comes with responsibilities for both students and the institutions
themselves,” the executive order read. “Such speech can never incite violence,
encourage people to violate the law[,] harass other students or other Texans,
or disrupt the core educational purpose of a university.”
Obviously the UT protest intended to do just that.
Whereas elected officials in other states have hemmed and hawed, Governor
Abbott acted forcefully to stop the madness. “Arrests being made right now
& will continue until the crowd disperses,” he wrote on X. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated in
Texas. Period.”
UT president Jay Hartzell should be similarly applauded
for not going wobbly in the manner of Columbia University president Minouche
Shafik. “Our University will not be occupied,” Hartzell wrote in an email
defending the crack-down sent to the UT community on Wednesday night.
As of this writing, a large group of students and
faculty, joined by Congressman Greg Casar, had walked out of
class on Thursday to denounce the law enforcement response as well as Israel.
Organizers presented to their progressive fellows a list of pie-in-the-sky demands, including UT’s divestment
from “companies complicit in the Israeli genocide of Gaza,” “complete amnesty”
for protesters, and Hartzell’s resignation. Good luck there. UT posted notices Thursday informing protesters that they must
be non-disruptive and disperse by 10:00 p.m. We’ll see what
happens, but UT knows what to do if they don’t comply.
At a time when so many institutions of higher education
haven’t maintained order, it is nice to see that some still can. Protesters
must face consequences when they violate university rules. Fail to impose
costs, and you get chaos. Weak leaders like Minouche Shafik haven’t learned
this foundational lesson.
“Don’t California my Texas” is a common refrain from Lone
Star State residents who worry their new neighbors will import the progressive
policies they’ve fled. This week’s events in Austin show that at the very
least, Texas won’t be turned into Columbia.
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