Is Kamala Harris Afraid of Free Speech on University Campuses?

A court-ordered agreement to stay away from campus has been offered as a deal to students at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who were arrested in the April 27 police removal of the Gaza ceasefire encampment. Under this agreement all charges would be dropped against the students if they would agree to never leave their dormitory room except to attend a class, according to the Washington Post. The university administration is against this deal and insists that the offer comes from the government. The official policy of the university is that if there are any students whom the university wants to ban from campus, then they will suspend the students—and not use a court order. Under the court deal the students would not be allowed to enter the university library, dining halls, sports facilities, student union building, or any other common areas—in other words surrender their free speech rights. The duration of this court agreement would be for six months—until after the election. During the two weeks of this GWU encampment there was not a single incidence of violence and the campus police even characterized the protesters as “polite.” The GWU protesters chose to build the encampment around the statue of George Washington which was adorned with a kaffiyeh, using the statue as a symbol of America’s traditional stand for justice.