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As of Thursday last week, the U of M reached a tentative agreement with protestors. According to a letter sent out to students from Interim President Ettinger, protest leaders will be given the chance to address the Board of Regents on May 10 to discuss divestment from certain companies. They also agreed to publicly disclose all university investments allowed by law by May 7. Further, Ettinger called for on-campus police to not arrest anyone related to the encampment and said that the University would not pursue disciplinary action against any student or employee for taking part in the encampment. Protestors, however, stated that they would resume their encampment and harassment if all six of their demands are not met. Those are:
- Divest from groups like Honeywell and General Dynamics
- Academic divestment from Israeli universities
- Transparency about university investments
- Statement in support of Palestinian students
- Statement in support of Palestinians' right to self-determination
- Amnesty for arrested students
While the University begins to cave to these outrageous demands, Jewish students are left feeling discriminated against and ignored by their university. According to a statement from the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), "The University's capitulation sends a message that students who violate U of M policy, openly celebrate violence, and shut down campus are rewarded with time before the Regents and 'regular meetings moving forward' with the President's office. By contrast, students targeted by antisemitism are apparently supposed to suffer silently, while their university appeases those very same activists who demonize Jews and Israelis."
As I’ve mentioned before, I stand strongly with our Israeli allies and with our Jewish students who are going through this. While protesters have a First Amendment right to make their voices heard and peacefully protest, those who engaged in the unlawful behavior that resulted in the closure of campus buildings and major disruptions for students, faculty, and workers must be held accountable. Enforcing consequences for unlawful behavior and violations of campus policies is a reasonable expectation, and should not be a point of negotiation.
Higher Education Bill Tabled in House
On a similar topic, we began hearing the Higher Education Omnibus Bill on the House floor. While there are many provisions I support such as shifting funding to allow Foster Independence Grants (FIG) to meet demand, positive changes to sexual harassment policies, and resources for ALS research and mothering students, the recent actions on our college campuses call for some changes to this bill.
When this bill is taken off the table and debated on the floor, my colleagues and I have a list of amendments that should be added for this bill to receive bipartisan support. There are several amendments aimed at addressing the campus protests. Here are three:
- A7 – Would prohibit universities that receive state funding from canceling classes, graduations, and campus activities while providing safety and security for said events, ensuring campus protests are relocated to avoid disruption.
- A9 – This would compel universities to expel students who are involved in protests in violation of state law or campus policy and substantially disrupt normal campus activities.
- A12 – Would require that students who commit misdemeanor or felony crimes be expelled and receive no state aid.
Overall, this bill already does good things for our institutions of higher learning. It takes care of pregnant and parenting students, it fixes the budget shortages for the FIG program, it provides funding for ALS research, it makes necessary changes to sexual harassment and assault policy, and it adjusts debt limits to better help our private schools bond for projects with private dollars. However, the violence and hatred being shown toward our Jewish students and the capitulation of the University to these antisemite students is extremely disappointing and must be addressed. I look forward to this bill returning to the House floor so we can pass these good provisions and work to support our Jewish students. We will likely address this bill again sometime this week.
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Please Contact Me
As always, if you need assistance on an issue pertaining to state government or have concerns or ideas about legislation, my office is available to you. You can e-mail at rep.marion.rarick@house.mn.gov or call my office at 651-296-5063. You can also write a letter to me. My office address at the Capitol is 357 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, St. Paul, MN 55155.
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