How Colleges Can Create More Inclusive Environments and Improve Student Relations on Campuses

As a former university administrator for over 15 years, including as a Chief Diversity Officer, I have watched with dismay how poorly some colleges have responded to pro-Palestinian student protests.? And the recent decision by Columbia to once again call in police to arrest peaceful protesters shows how ill-equipped college administrators are to deal with students in a culturally competent & empathic manner.? With all the backlash against DEI and legislatures banning it on college campuses, it is no surprise that many colleges do not have the professional knowledge and skills to effectively handle these very delicate situations. ?Skilled DEI professionals would be able to advise colleges on how best to respond in a culturally competent manner, instead of the heavy-handed, bungling, culturally insensitive ways some of them have. ?Cultural competence allows you to navigate the challenging dynamics of such a situation, where students are peacefully protesting, while other students report feeling unsafe.? It is recognizing that the needs of all students must be addressed, while creating an inclusive environment.? Here are some ways that university administrators can create inclusive environments and improve student relations on college campuses:

1)??? Recognizing that students not donors or trustees are your primary constituents – far too many college administrators, under immense pressure to raise money constantly, have forgotten who the primary stakeholders on college campuses are…students.? The concerns of students, faculty, and staff should always be the primary focus over the desires of donors, trustees, or politicians.? Colleges are big business in today’s environment, and therefore, college presidents function more as CEOs than as senior education administrators, more focused on their shareholders (e.g. donors, trustees) than their own employees and students.? They are so far removed from their students, that they no longer know how to actually engage with them.? A shift needs to occur wherein students, faculty, and staff once again are the primary stakeholders who need to be protected, and whose concerns must be central.? While the financial realities of colleges will not be changing any time soon, and therefore, pressure to please donors will continue, a reset must happen to put the appropriate focus on those who deserve it most, your students.?

2)??? Providing cultural competence training & education to all university stakeholders -? while DEI training has now been met with considerable resistance, the reality is that providing such cultural competence training would have avoided some of the scenes of repression playing out across college campuses.? Cultural competence training teaches individuals the skills, knowledge, and awareness to engage effectively with individuals from different cultural backgrounds, from one’s own.? Such training would help administrators be more attuned to the concerns of their students, and students would be able to navigate challenging conversations with their peers & college administrators.?

Despite some institutions barring DEI on campus, the reality is that there is even more of a need for all stakeholders (e.g. students, faculty, staff, senior administrators, trustees) to receive training, which would enhance inclusion, increase racial competence, religious tolerance, and overall cultural sensitivity.? While such endeavors may be expensive, there are not more costly than the bad press and the vast amounts of money allocated to security and police intervention, which colleges have spent over the last few weeks.?

This education should not be boilerplate, but designed to meet the specific needs of different campuses, and should be embedded in the academic culture of the institutions.? And it must be comprehensive and ongoing, not just a one off experience.? Student training can be included in their first year experience courses, and as part of their club activities, while faculty and staff can receive it as part of their onboarding process.? Senior administrators and trustees should especially be targeted for training, because they can greatly influence the culture of the college.

?3)??? Choosing the wellbeing of students over “law and order” rhetoric- Columbia’s president made a crucial blunder, due to pressure, I imagine, from Congress, donors, and trustees, to quash the peaceful protests.? Out of touch administrators such as Columbia’s president should know that it is never good optics to send the police, a paramilitary unit, to arrest & brutalize peaceful students, staff, and faculty.? History illustrates, from anti-Jim Crow protests to anti-war protests to anti-apartheid protests, that attempting to silence students through state repression will never end well for you.? No one fondly recalls police arresting peaceful student protesters, or the administrators who authorized them to do so.

The scenes of police officers across this country manhandling students and faculty should actually result in those officers being severely sanctioned or fired, and will only build solidarity for the student movement.? Cultural competence enables you to realize that the police are never a good option on a college campus, and would give you the skill to engage with students more empathically, rather than viewing them as a nuisance to be dealt with. With the escalation of protests at Columbia and elsewhere, including the takeover of university buildings, there will be even more of a desire to call in the police, as Columbia once again did.? Administrators must resist that urge, and attempt to resolve the situation peacefully, as they managed to do at Brown University and Northwestern. Center the wellbeing of students over the law and order, fearmongering rhetoric of New York’s mayor, which is disingenuous, since Columbia and the mayor knew that the protesters were unarmed, and posed no imminent threat.? Yet they were willing to put the lives of their students at risk, by having police with guns enter the building.

?4)??? Ending the “outside agitator” false narrative – countless politicians and other government officials are constantly pushing the “outside agitator” narrative, suggesting that students are not knowledgeable and sophisticated enough to organize for social justice causes.? This “outside agitator” false narrative has been around since the civil rights movement, when racist Southern officials decried “outside forces” riling Black citizens up to demand voting and other rights, as if these same Black residents were content to be treated as second class citizens.? Culturally competent individuals recognize that the “outside agitator” narrative seeks to distract from the actual reason for the protests, which are the human rights abuses in Gaza and the needless deaths of over 34,000 Palestinians.? It also aims to undermine public support for the protests, by suggesting these outside agitators are planning violent resistance.? University administrators must be clear to communicate that the majority of protesters are their students, even if there is some presence of external protesters, and that those student protesters should be treated with care and respect.

5)??? Providing effective mental health support for all students -? the students who have been unjustly arrested across the country, and had to spend time in jail for peacefully protesting should be provided with mental health support, as well as any students who have felt traumatized by the situation on their campuses.? Watching police descend on your campus in riot gear, assaulting your classmates & professors is indeed traumatizing, and universities should focus on caring for their students through mental health assistance, rather than criminalizing them.

6) Facilitating difficult dialogues with all stakeholders - the impact of these student protests will reverberate long past the war ending. Therefore, colleges must bring all stakeholders involved to discuss the difficult issues, which have emerged during this period, including understanding what is anti-semitic and what is not. To be pro-Palestinian, and to care for the plight of a people who are effectively landless and have suffered more than 34,000 deaths does not make one anti-semitic.? To criticize Israel or those who are pro-Israel does not make one anti-semitic.? Many colleges have done a poor job of clearly defining anti-semitism, and have allowed it to be utilized in such an expansive way that it runs the risk of making all actions by pro-Palestinian student protesters be construed as anti-semitic. It is an extremely sensitive topic, and thus, bringing together pro-Palestinian student protesters, Jewish students who feel intimidated & unsafe, and all concerned parties, to discuss how to create a truly safe environment, while allowing legitimate protest, is a critical step for colleges to take.

?The continued killing of innocent Palestinians will spur even more protests across the nation.? And universities need to figure out how to be more empathic, inclusive, and skilled in engaging with students, rather than using repressive tactics to silence them.? Hopefully, universities will learn from the egregious mistakes of Columbia’s president, trustees, and administration, and how poorly they have handled peaceful protesters, and learn to actually dialogue with their students in a culturally competent manner.? ?

?