My friends and I have jokingly said that over the course of four years at a liberal arts college, there is a 5 to 10 percent chance that our school will be a major player in the national culture wars. In the age of the Internet, the feedback loop from universities to media is unique. Localized campus controversy spread like wildfire through social media and digital news coverage.
At the same time, polarized and acrimonious national politics that remain relatively distant from important issues – what political scientist Anton Jager has called “hyperpolitics” – are being used as fodder for larger debates. Potential for rapid focus on small-scale stories. This kind of thing often happens at American universities. Even the smallest incident can transform and form into a controversy that attracts intense and widespread negative attention.
It’s an old cliché that there is no such thing as a bad reputation. For universities as institutions, this may be largely true. For example, immediately after the November 2020 national election, McAlester said: fox newsAfter President Rivera announced that he would pay bail for students arrested during protests, the university posted on its website: “While I believe that President Rivera’s intentions were serious, the university has confirmed that Mr. Rivera’s Twitter account is I don’t think they were concerned about how quickly it spread and the media coverage it received as a result. fox newsspread the name of the university, Some kind of brand image.
However, in the realm of student life, the effects of bad publicity are not so benign. With culture war discussions that almost instantly send the internet into a frenzy and foam at the mouth, students lose the ability to simply do what students do: learn and explore ideas. Media coverage of campus controversies results in a disruption of context, malign engagement, and a sacrifice of student intellectual agency.
An example can be taken from about a year ago, when McAlester was embroiled in perhaps the most media-covered university controversy in recent years.
In February, a new exhibition opened at the university’s art gallery. Created by Iranian-American Talabat Talepasand, the gallery displayed images of women in Islamic religious costumes, as well as in sexual and revealing poses. Some Muslim students on campus argued that the art was offensive or harmful and should have been removed. The university closed the museum for several days to deliberate, but ultimately kept the exhibit open.
The story received relatively thoughtful local media coverage and graced the pages of the N newspaper.new york times Five days later, it shows how quickly the Campus article can create a huge response. But once the story reaches a larger trajectory, it becomes impossible to keep it self-contained and it is quickly swallowed up by a much larger national debate. Certain situations stand in for other arguments, There is too much scrutiny and at the same time insufficient understanding of the situation.
As controversial news like this explodes, something even more damaging happens. These viral instant stories put a lot of pressure and restriction on students while they are learning.
This cycle has become highly visible in recent months, as protests against the Israeli government’s war in Gaza have sparked discussions about the presence of anti-Semitism on campuses. Immediately after Hamas attacked Israel, killing more than 1,000 people, there was a huge backlash against a Harvard student group, which issued a public statement saying “Israel bears full responsibility” for the attack. Stated. Outside organizations posted students’ names and other personal information on trucks driving near campus, and employers sought out lists of students’ names to rescind offers or blacklist them.
Three Ivy League presidents took to the floor of Congress to testify on the issue (and two of them lost their jobs in the aftermath), and in the months following the first eruption of campus conflict, national There was a lot of commentary, and an article claiming that the Ivy League was covering up the problem became a hot topic. New York Times’ Website.
Again, one of the most important effects is on the students themselves, who are suddenly thrust into a national media tank. Every action is scrutinized and students’ abilities are hindered. You can approach difficult ideas with ease or openness.
Students no longer have the luxury of attending college as people learning, growing, and being exposed to new ideas. As Harvard University student Aiden Barton wrote in an October op-ed: washington post“Some powerful outsiders have chosen to treat some of my colleagues as hopelessly misguided finished products.”
Last semester, as one of two editors-in-chief, The Mac Weekly, I had to wrestle with difficult discussions about anonymity in reporting on the pro-Palestinian student movement for the paper. When reporters for this paper covered protests on campus, protesters and organizers rarely cited their names for fear of retaliation inside and outside the university.
I struggled with this. I believe something is lost in activities and community discussions when participants rely on anonymity. As a member of campus civic life, you must take some level of personal responsibility for your actions and words.
At the same time, these students requested anonymity for understandable reasons. At universities across the country, outside parties are carrying out malicious attacks against students involved in professional baseball. Palestinian activities. Given the most egregious cases of student oppression at Harvard and Columbia universities, and the broader state of the internet; With its machine-like ability to turn individual actors into pawns of national harassment, students’ requests for anonymity were difficult to deny.
As a result, campus discussions lose their richness, vibrancy, and freedom.
Students need honest feedback and full-throated pushback if they are to develop ideas and develop intellectually and politically. My point is not that students should be isolated from unpleasant people off campus. However, students are entitled to flexibility and grace throughout their school experience. And the Internet culture wars can generate more than just a backlash against an idea, but a stream of vitriol against students.
To be sure, this is not the only free speech issue on college campuses, and it may not even be the most important issue. However, this issue is underrepresented in discussions about campus speech. It’s easy to get caught up in the media coverage on college campuses across the country. But remember, this accommodation comes at the expense of the student.