Columbia University 1968 Protests Have Parallels With 2024 Encampments

A conversation with the author of Resistance from the Right: Conservatives and the Campus Wars in Modern America.

You say not out of left field, but it sort of is in the literal sense that the protests have become a matter of leftist politics. Even centrists don't seem to support doing anything materially to stop the war. And though rhetorically, Trump has said student protests are worse than the Charlottesville white nationalist rally, practically speaking, President Biden's stance isn't much different. He’s said that college students don't understand what's happening in Palestine…

Administrators’ goals — and I mean not only presidents but also trustees and people in positions of governance since faculty have lost that power over the years — is for students to show up, pay tuition, graduate, and continue sending in donations. They don't want the power structure uprooted or shaken up in any sort of way. They don't want students to use any of the criticisms or lessons they've learned to question the powers of the institution and the people who run it. Clearly, that goal has become more of a shared political project today.

Read more excerpts of the interview with Ben Tumin at Teen Vogue. Listen to the full interview on Skipped History.