Recommendation:
Safety & Well-being in Challenging Times
University campuses are well-known for becoming the epicentres for protests and other disruptive behaviours impacting all students, often violating rules, policies, and university codes of conduct. Universities must create and maintain a physically safe and secure campus for their students, faculty, and staff. We urge universities to ensure campus law enforcement is properly trained to recognize and address conduct that violates campus rules and policies or constitutes harassment. We want both administrations and campus law enforcement to ensure that time, place, and manner policies are in effect to govern all campus protest activity; that there is regular and consistent communication with Jewish communal institutions on campus about security needs; and, when necessary, that there is regular communication with local law enforcement and that emergency plans are reviewed and understood. Furthermore, the power imbalance between faculty and students can make students vulnerable to coercion and political indoctrination. Universities must protect students from the interference caused by such “abuses of podium,” which hinder learning.