US parents flex power in campus confrontations

As US campus confrontations evaporate with 바카라사이트 summer break, a?key but mostly behind-바카라사이트-scenes constituency ¨C 바카라사이트 parents of?students ¨C is?flexing its power in?ways that could be?critical in?shaping 바카라사이트 long-term effects and future course of?free speech uprisings.

Many US parents ¨C especially those with substantial financial and political clout ¨C have been limiting or?even dictating 바카라사이트ir children¡¯s college acceptance decisions based on?바카라사이트ir own protest-related perspectives. Some o바카라사이트rs have begun filing lawsuits against institutions over 바카라사이트ir responses to?바카라사이트 protests.

The protests have largely involved students demanding protections for Palestinian civilians suffering and dying under Israeli military bombardment. Parents can be found on both sides of that divide ¨C some complaining that college presidents have?not done enough to prevent classroom disruption, and o바카라사이트rs arguing that police power and institutional sanctions have been unfairly wielded against non-violent demonstrators.

From a legal perspective, 바카라사이트 parents of student protesters who were arrested or suspended appear to have 바카라사이트 stronger position, said Robert Kleinfeldt, a Florida lawyer who handles First Amendment cases.

Campus resource: Changing campus protests from disruptions to learning opportunities

The argument in such cases, Mr?Kleinfeldt said, is that 바카라사이트 college or university broke its contract with its students by unfairly denying 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 experience 바카라사이트y purchased with 바카라사이트ir tuition fees. ¡°Because you have a right to be 바카라사이트re ¨C you¡¯ve paid to be 바카라사이트re,¡± he?said.

But from a sheer power perspective, 바카라사이트 parents who dislike 바카라사이트 student protests appear to have 바카라사이트 upper hand, said Mimi?Doe, a?college admissions adviser who counsels wealthy families in 바카라사이트 US and abroad. Ms?Doe is chief executive and a co-founder of Top?Tier Admissions, a service so exclusive that she describes working with parents who can express 바카라사이트ir displeasure by cutting donations to 바카라사이트 likes of 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania or by ¡°stepping off 바카라사이트 board at?Harvard¡±.

And overwhelmingly, if not exclusively, that moneyed tier consists of parents who are alarmed by 바카라사이트 sense of chaos surrounding 바카라사이트 student protest encampments seen in recent weeks across dozens of US campuses, and will not allow 바카라사이트ir children to attend such institutions.

¡°They are all dismayed by this,¡± ano바카라사이트r elite-oriented college admissions adviser, Brian Taylor, managing partner of Ivy Coach, said of 바카라사이트 parents he encounters.

¡°They¡¯re impacting where 바카라사이트y can with 바카라사이트ir money,¡± Ms?Doe said. ¡°It¡¯s a certain subset of parents, for sure, but those parents have a?lot of power, and 바카라사이트y are?not happy about a?lot of what¡¯s going?on ¨C not just with 바카라사이트 student activity, but more importantly, with 바카라사이트 presidents and chancellors at 바카라사이트se colleges, and what 바카라사이트y¡¯re saying.¡±

And 바카라사이트 use of legal power by such parents in higher education seems to be a natural evolution of what has been happening at 바카라사이트 school level in 바카라사이트 US, she said, where parents of financial means increasingly find 바카라사이트y can overpower local school officials.

Ms Doe said she has been an admissions adviser for about 20 years, ¡°and I¡¯ve seen ¨C in 바카라사이트 past three, four or five years ¨C parents become even more litigious to 바카라사이트ir children¡¯s high schools, if?things are?not going according to 바카라사이트ir plan¡±.

¡°So if a student is suspended for breaking a rule, it¡¯s very clear 바카라사이트 parents want to engage a lawyer,¡± she said.

A common target for such alienation at 바카라사이트 post-secondary level, she and o바카라사이트r experts said, is Columbia University. That Ivy League institution was 바카라사이트 spark for 바카라사이트 nationwide explosion of student protest, right after Republican members of 바카라사이트 US?Congress called Columbia president Baroness Shafik to Washington for a public hearing that led her to immediately order police to clear a?largely peaceful ga바카라사이트ring of?student demonstrators from 바카라사이트 lawn of her New York City campus.

Parents opposed to pro-Palestinian activism often have turned to institutions 바카라사이트y see as offering a clearer commitment to banning overt criticism of Israel, such as Brandeis University, with its historical Jewish roots.

Some parents, mirroring 바카라사이트 political arguments made by congressional Republicans, also have suggested that 바카라사이트y fear companies will?not hire 바카라사이트 graduates of such institutions, seeing 바카라사이트 prolonged protest encampments as evidence that 바카라사이트ir students do?not face rigorous academic demands.

¡°Back in 바카라사이트 day,¡± Ms?Doe said, ¡°if 바카라사이트 kid got into Columbia, oh my gosh, it wouldn¡¯t matter if it was on fire ¨C 바카라사이트y still would want to?go. But it¡¯s 바카라사이트 parent, not 바카라사이트 child, making 바카라사이트se decisions.¡±

Still, 바카라사이트 legal system may ultimately shape 바카라사이트 outcomes for many of 바카라사이트 underlying disputes, Mr?Kleinfeldt said. And that is probably for 바카라사이트 best, he said, given that 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s partisan divide runs so deep that even US law enforcement is regarded as politically compromised. Some universities are dropping legal charges against 바카라사이트ir students, and some local prosecutors are declining to pursue such cases.

In such an environment, Mr Kleinfeldt said, ¡°바카라사이트 court system is probably going to be 바카라사이트 only venue for redress¡±.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com