The University of Wisconsin-Madison is no stranger to demonstrations from political activists on campus, and that’s especially true this school year. From pro-Palestine protests to demonstrations against far-right speakers, campus has seen its fair share of political discourse.
Meetings like these raise the question of what the university’s role in political disputes should be. Should UW-Madison have zero involvement in First Amendment-protected actions, or should the university step in to prevent a hateful and harmful culture on campus?
“With everything being very controversial these days, I honestly believe there is not a whole lot the university can do in order to respond. No matter what they may say on an issue, there will always be problems,” said UW-Madison freshman Nathan Kim.
Kim, who is Asian American, has participated in a handful of demonstrations but said he believes the university does not need to get too involved in anything not too serious.
“Unless someone is being directly harmed, there is nothing wrong with the university watching from the sidelines,” Kim said.
Kim’s views represent a wider sentiment among some students that the university should take a back seat in political matters among its students.
For many, these demonstrations are removed from their campus experience and don’t occupy their thoughts. But for others, engaging in political disputes is a major part of their student identity at UW-Madison.
“It is important for the university to display their involvement during times of conflict and controversial current events,” said Logan Lutz, a freshman.
So what has the university done in the past to settle these disputes? Aside from releasing statements apologizing for those who felt victimized by the protests, not much. The university should respond by working towards establishing open lines of communication with protest groups, much like the University of Virginia has begun to do in response to recent graduate student protests.
Disputes that are inherently violent and hateful should have no place on campus, and the university needs to take a stronger stance on this matter to ensure its students’ safety. The neo-Nazi rally last semester is one example of the kind of behavior that should not be tolerated in any way.
However, even peaceful demonstrations can still have negative impacts on individuals who might feel offended, given how polarizing political conversations can be.
“It is extremely difficult for the university to make everyone happy when it comes to political matters, so honestly the best course of action is to just maybe host dialogues about certain issues,” said Jiwoo Hong, a freshman.
The university should extend its resources and support to students engaging in positive and healthy political discussions by hosting sessions that educate protest groups on how to create a positive political environment. These sessions could see university faculty actively helping student groups define their goals and assisting in building management structures within the group to allow for the advancement of these goals.
UW-Madison should also open up communications with its students and staff members through these protest refinement meetings, ensuring a place of safety and understanding for politically charged conversations. The university can create guidelines that help streamline and assist student groups’ abilities to communicate their message while keeping other students or individuals who may feel hurt by certain demonstrations in mind.
As of now, the university has a strong statement that outlines their position on protesting.
“[UW-Madison] values free speech both in the statement of an idea and in the response to that idea,” the statement reads. “Generating and exploring innovative ideas and realities requires us to permit multiple perspectives and dynamic discourse. We are committed to freedom of expression and the right to assemble.”
This statement displays the right way to attack complex current events. In order for the university to appeal to the most people possible, they need to have this “free speech” type of attitude for most topics.
UW-Madison should provide these educational sessions on protesting for students who feel hurt or victimized by disputes on campus as well. Not only would this act as a means of communication between protesters and individuals affected by political demonstrations, it would allow university faculty to make better informed decisions.
While these demonstrations should be allowed and can help create a healthy political environment, the university needs to consider those who might feel attacked by certain discourse and should do everything in their power to help them.
Recently, members of the Associated Students of Madison, the university’s student government, have taken steps toward this goal. ASM has begun to host meetings that give students the means to voice their thoughts and feelings on any current issue. Actions like these will help build a more positive and informed political culture on campus as leadership within the university can create welcome changes that benefit all sides of different dialogues.
Although more understanding and active listening from the university on these matters will help, it’s important that a line is recognized on how much administration can interfere with political disputes. Meetings between university staff and protest groups should never result in actions that restrict freedom of assembly or hurt a groups’ ability to communicate their message, such as the decisions recently imposed by Stanford, MIT and Brown that resulted in condemnation of student protesters.
Overall, responding to protests and demonstrations on controversial topics presents a significant challenge for the university. Striving for an ideal reaction in complex and diverse situations is particularly difficult. In other words, it's impossible to make everybody happy.
UW-Madison should continue to respect protesters and politically active members of the community as well as their right to hold demonstrations and take part in charged dialogue. That being said, the university should continue to increase their attentiveness to student groups’ and individuals' wishes and activities to better serve students and the community as a whole.
Paul O'Gorman is a staff writer and a freshman studying history. Andrew Habas is a staff writer and a freshman studying business. How do you think UW-Madison administrators should handle campus politics? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com
