Last school year, students across the nation took part in on campus protests to bring attention to the Israel-Hamas War. Overwhelmingly, student protesters were demanding that their colleges divest from Israel.
It led to encampments on college greens, large demonstrations, and some arrests of both students and faculty.
At some campuses, college administrations have welcomed student demonstrations and activism. But this school year has brought new policies around protesting.
Today, we hear from student organizers across Connecticut about their perspectives on these changes and plans to organize in the future.
GUESTS:
- Kate Hidalgo Bellows: Staff Reporter at the Chronicle of Higher Education covering today’s students and campus culture
- Dan Barrett: Legal Director of ACLU of Connecticut
- Antonia Kambolis: Junior at Trinity College
- Batya Kline: Student Organizer at Wesleyan University
Statement from Wesleyan University regarding allegations of protest monitoring from students:
The University stands by its previous statement, confirming that there have been no updates to its disruption policy or changes to practices in response to recent campus protests.
However, the University has recently installed updated security equipment on campus as part of its year-long assessment of aging infrastructure and in response to recent incidents of vandalism. While this included new security cameras, the University did not purchase a license for auto-detection or sound recording features. As is standard, security cameras are installed regularly in all new construction and renovations and are retrofitted into existing buildings.
As a result of routine fire/safety inspections, the University deemed a recently closed campus building a fire hazard, determining it was unsafe for occupancy and is only allowing limited access until the hazards are addressed.
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