How colleges make themselves easy targets.
Preview:
I woke on February 2, 2017, to a new reality. The night before, riots had broken out at the University of California at Berkeley, where I was then chancellor. One hundred and fifty "antifa" activists, wearing black masks, hats, and backpacks, had marched on Sproul Plaza, birthplace of the Free Speech Movement, to protest a speech by the Breitbart provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. They smashed open the tall glass windows of the student union and set fire to a propane-powered lamp. Yiannopoulos had to be escorted off campus to ensure his safety. President Trump, in a tweet, accused Berkeley of suppressing free speech and threatened the loss of all federal funds.
Originally published: October 28, 2018
Author: Nicholas B. Dirks
Position: Former Chancellor
Institution: University of California at Berkeley
Published by: The Chronicle of Higher Ed