New Wave of Protests at USC

And the Need for Clear Rules and Enforcement

As anticipated, SJP and other Jew-hating terror-adjacent organizations continue to disrupt our campus. This week, they circulated announcements (see below) calling for walk-outs and demonstration. We doubt that this protest was registered with USC—SJP is not accredited by the university. Notably, the announcement says “masks required.” Since the time of Ku Klux Klan, covering one’s face has been used to intimidate and evade accountability for actions that violate University rules and state and federal laws. It is illegal to wear a mask to prevent identification while engaging in a crime in California. The UC system has announced zero tolerance for masking during protests and demonstrations—we covered this important decision here and here (notably, UC took this step only after being sued by Jewish students and forced by Federal Judge Mark Scarsi to act).

Announcement on SJP’s social media.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed has published a summary of policies regulating protests across American Universities (“We Looked at Dozens of Colleges’ New Protest Policies. Here’s What We Found,” September 12, 2024):

The Chronicle reviewed nearly four dozen campus policies — 29 at public colleges, 15 at private colleges — that were created or updated since the spring semester to restrict the time, place, or manner of student protests. The new guidelines address the use of masks, amplified sound, and tent encampments, among other issues.

According to The Chronicle, 20 schools ban masking, 38 limit amplified sound, 41 restrict encampments, and 34 restrict time or place of protests.

Image source: The Chronicle of Higher Ed, “We Looked at Dozens of Colleges’ New Protest Policies. Here’s What We Found.” Spetember 12, 2024.

Meanwhile at USC…

Yesterday (September 12), there were demonstrators on campus—masked, with loud speakers, chanting and carrying signs calling for Intifada (that is, violence)—the whole nine yards. The images below and videos posted on X by Jacob Wheeler, the Annenberg student reporter who was doxxed and intimidated last year and is now an intern at NBC4 News (we featured Jacob here and here), convey the character of these activities, which continued uninterrupted for quite some time:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1834320072489533955

https://twitter.com/i/status/1834321299017273716

The USC campus, September 12, 2024

These incidents show that USC still does not have a clear plan of action to deal with disruptions. While the rules regarding protests on campus are clearly laid out in the new Student Handbook, which we reviewed here, the key question—how these rules will be enforced—remains unanswered. Without enforcement, the rules are just empty words.

For example, if yesterday’s protest was not registered with USC, why was it allowed to take place in the middle of our campus? Why were the demonstrators not escorted off campus immediately? Was DPS instructed to stop the protestors, check their IDs, and record their identities? Do we know the identities of the USC students who, by engaging in an unauthorized protest, violated the rules in the Student Handbook? Will they be punished and, if so, what will the punishment be?

As it turns out, the violators from the spring protests who were suspended, were not expelled, but simply required to write essays reflecting on “personal thoughts, experiences, and insights” from the protest and “how you might make different decisions in the future”—a “punishment” that is doubly wrong: (1) it infringes on students’ freedom of conscience and (2) fails to impose any substantive penalty for violation of university rules. The university should not police student thoughts and beliefs. It does not have a right to compel students to say things they do not believe, but it has fully within its rights—indeed has an obligation to the university community—to punish them for violating rules (and possibly laws). Expelling them, on the other hand, would instill the lesson that acts carry consequences and would send a message to others that rules need to be respected.

Another problem: The administration has not provided guidance to faculty on what to do if a masked mob intrudes on their classroom. Is there a number to call? Will help arrive? Likewise, the faculty need guidance on how to respond to calls for students to leave classrooms and join the protesters.

The USC campus, September 12, 2024.

The USC campus, September 12, 2024. Note loudspeaker and face coverings.

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To address these urgent issues, members of our Circle prepared a set of recommendations. They include relevant recommendations from our “Report on Campus Climate and Call for Action” as well as additional suggestions modeled on UC’s policies. The recommendations, which were sent to Provost Guzman today, are the following.

Recommendations for Rules of Behavior of Students and Instructors

A. General: Maintaining a Disruption-Free Learning Environment

1. The University must ensure a disruption-free learning and teaching environment for all students and faculty. The University should apply the existing rules regarding time, place, and manner of expression in a swift, fair (i.e., viewpoint-neutral), and even-handed manner and publish additional rules as necessary to enact the following measures.

2. The Provost should publish clear rules about the obligation of instructors to ensure a classroom free of harassment, intimidation, and indoctrination. In the interest of both intellectual integrity and averting indoctrination, syllabi that offer narrow historical or political view should state so and point students to available courses that present other perspectives. Complaints of policy violations should be dealt with immediately by departments/schools, with suspension of instructors from classrooms when violations are determined to be valid. Corresponding updates should be made to the Faculty and Student Handbooks.

3. The administration must remind academic units that individual faculty and students are free to express their political views outside the classroom but that academic freedom does not afford them the right to impose those views on students or absolve faculty of responsibility to promote student learning without unreasonable exposure to potential harassment (as already stated in the Faculty Handbook).

4. Given the enormous differential in power between faculty and students, the administration must ensure that students’ complaints are taken seriously and resolved expeditiously, i.e., so that students are not forced to remain in an inappropriate classroom environment when such complaints are valid. The administration must also ensure that transparency and accountability (of the units investigating and resolving students’ complaints) are integral to the process.

5. The Provost should frequently remind deans and department heads of the boundaries of permissible speech. Faculty must be informed of these policies by their departments, and departments must certify annually that they understand the guidelines, the expectations, and the consequences of non-compliance.

B. Demonstrations and Public Events

1. During protests or public expression events, individuals and groups may not impede or disrupt foot and vehicular traffic and entrances to buildings. Obstructing, disrupting, or otherwise interfering with the instructional, research, or administrative operations of the University, or any other person engaging in business with the University are not permissible. Reasonable access to and exit from classrooms, laboratories, parking structures, offices and buildings must be always provided.  No interference with the conduct of classes and laboratories, or students’ ability to participate in any part of their educational activities or program is allowed.

2. No protestors may wear masks or other types of face coverings during campus protests since they are clearly designed to intimidate those with differing views. The coverings also allow protestors to behave more aggressively than they otherwise might by shielding their identities. California Penal Code prohibits the use of face masking for the purpose of concealing public offenses.

3. Unless explicitly granted permission from university administrators, no non-USC members of the public should be permitted on campus for the purpose of protesting, rallying, or demonstrating.

4. Supporters of federally listed terrorist organizations should not be allowed to express support for these organizations on campus.

5. USC should establish an area where protestors could congregate and exercise their rights to free speech. This free speech zone should be far enough away from classrooms and heavily trafficked areas of campus, so that their activities don't infringe on the rights of students to study and learn in a peaceful environment. In particular, allowing such activities at the center of campus risks creating an atmosphere of intimidation, potentially leading to escalation.

6. When encampments occur on campus, actions to remove them should be taken immediately so that order is restored swiftly. The consequences for breaking these rules should be publicized and clearly evident. Students violating USC rules should be disciplined, up to and including the potential for expulsion. There should be no negotiations with perpetrators, as such negotiations legitimize disruptive behaviors and encourage future disruptive protests.

These above recommendations do not suggest new rules; rather they urge the University to consistently enforce its existing rules regarding time, place, and manner of expression in a swift, fair (i.e., viewpoint-neutral), and even-handed manner. There should be zero tolerance for lawlessness and vandalism and a strict prohibition of unregistered protests, especially those led by outsiders. Our campus is a place to teach, study, and carry out research, not a public space for unlawful or disruptive demonstrations, which create a repressive environment counter to the University's mission.

C. Additional Recommendations for Protests and Marches

1. Instructors will not permit protestors to enter classes during educational activities or let them ask students to leave the activity.

2. Instructors are not allowed to dismiss a class or any part of it to allow students to participate in a protest.

3. Students and instructors should not engage in abusive, threatening, harassing, or intimidating conduct during educational activities.

4. It is forbidden to conceal one’s identity with the aim of intimidating any person or group, or for the purpose of evading or escaping discovery, recognition, or identification in the commission of violations of USC or State, municipal or federal laws.

5. During marches and demonstrations amplified sound should not disrupt classes, exams, or other instructional activities.

6. Approved USC events should not be disrupted by protests using amplified sound or obstruction of access that prevents the event from occurring or proceeding.

7. USC should enforce safety rules regarding visitors, including guests driving in cars (not just drivers).