Totalitarianism goes to college

A summary of fascistic actions at American universities

As a graduate student who studied at Widner Library at Harvard frequently, and who spent so many hours at the library as a professor at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and at George Washington University, the push for totalitarian rule in the United States starting with universities is one of the most disgusting actions that I have seen in my lifetime. We see the merging of private schools with private prisons in the “classroom to prison cell conveyor belt” scam that many young people face as well. Education is not about learning any more, but about control and domination.

Here are a few concrete examples related to the protests against Israeli attacks in Palestine, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

• At Harvard University on October 25, 25 faculty members were suspended from entering the Widener Library for two weeks after conducting a silent “study-in” protest in solidarity with students who had been suspended for conducting a similar protest the month prior. The banning of faculty from the library for simply displaying pieces of paper that had innocuous phrases such as “Embrace diverse perspectives,” is an unprecedented act of disciplinary action. Harvard cited “library policy” to justify barring faculty members from the institution’s main library, which will severely impact their ability to conduct their own work. More than 60 students who previously conducted a silent “study-in” at Widener Library against the genocide have also been banned from the main library on campus for two weeks.

  

• At the University of Pittsburgh, at least 17 students and community members face prosecution for their participation in Gaza Solidarity encampments. After police assaulted the encampments, arrested protesters face inflated charges, including felonies. They have also been issued “persona non grata” notices, essentially banning them from the University of Pittsburgh campus.

• At the University of Chicago last week, university officials sent the police to evict and suspend an Arab student who participated in an anti-genocide protest earlier this month. Megan Porter, the student’s attorney, told a local news outlet that even though her client has not been convicted of a crime, he was nevertheless removed from campus. Porter added that he does not have family in the state and has nowhere else to live.

• At Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Dr. Maura Finkelstein, who herself is Jewish, was fired for posting comments on social media in opposition to Zionism and the ongoing genocide. Interviewed earlier this month by the World Socialist Web Site, Finkelstein observed, “Our campuses are being militarized.”

• At Cornell University, administrators suspended four students for three years for their involvement in a pro-Palestinian protest on September 18, directed at military contractors arming the genocide. Cornell University Ph.D. student Momodou Taal, a graduate instructor, was nearly deported earlier this month for participating in the September 18 demonstration.

• At the University of California, Santa Cruz, over 100 students and faculty members have been banned from campus since they were arrested for protesting the Gaza genocide last semester. The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and the Center for Protest Law and Litigation have filed a lawsuit against the university, arguing that the mass suspension is unconstitutional.

• The University of Michigan is pursuing criminal charges against 11 students for participating in anti-war demonstrations against the war in Gaza last spring. The charges include trespassing and obstructing a police officer, a felony offense with potential sentences of up to two years in prison.

Thanks to WSWS for the original article.