The New Rules Of Protest At Swarthmore
By Bob Small
Last semester’s Swarthmore College pro-Palestinian tent city made the college revisit its student handbook. Certain activities are now proscribed, including “excessive noise” including “bullhorns and chanting”
And they are banning encampments.
Johnathan Washington, associate professor of linguistics does not seem to approve.,
“In protest, people are going to feel uncomfortable,” he said. “But that’s not harmful. That’s challenging people’s thinking, which is the whole point of protest.”
Students for Justice in Palestine members Ragad Ahmad and Kaliab Tale, both members of the Class of ’26, say that Swarthmore “has charged the most students as a percentage of total student body out of 14 comparable institutions,” including Bryn Mawr and Haverford.
“This is an attempt to silence the people and chill speech,” said Philadelphia ACLU attorney Soloman Furious Worlds.
According to Democracy Now! – students at Cornell, the University of Maryland have returned to the fray.
Columbia has also began again.
The “Poison Ivy” league continues a strong record of supporting radical causes. The Nazi chant came from Harvard football cheers “and was imported to Germany by Ernst “Putzy” Hanfstaengl, a Harvard man in good standing who befriended Hitler and helped build a more respectable brand for the National Socialists.
Eugenics was also imported to Germany from the “Poison Ivy League, not only against Jews but also against German disabled and others deemed to be “life unworthy of life.”
Margaret Sanger one of the founders of Planned Parenthood, supported eugenics.
For some background on how the election intersects with the Pro-Palestinian protests visit Pro-Palestinian protests return to campuses adding.
Locally The University of Pennsylvania “has banned demonstrations in classrooms, offices, residences.”
Other schools taking various actions are the California State system, the Universities of California, South Florida and Yale.
Universities throughout the country are seeking various ways to allow free speech while avoiding chaos and disruption, however.
Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said in response to a question about handling protests. “ Another way to say this is the job of a university is to encourage debates, not to settle them. “
See also A Mass. civil liberties attorney breaks down new campus … and FAQ for Student Protests on Campus

The New Rules Of Protest At Swarthmore