BRYCE GREENE, greenebj@iu.edu, @TheGreeneBJ
Greene is a graduate student at Indiana University. In May, peaceful protesters in a tent there were met with snipers on the roof, and dozens of arrests.
Indiana Public Media now reports that the ACLU is suing IU for its expressive activity policy, with Greene as one of the plaintiffs, stating that: “Doctoral student Bryce Greene and professor Ben Robinson, both of whom face possible sanctions over a ‘free speech vigil’ they held after 11 p.m. last weekend.” Late night vigils are continuing.
IU’s attack on Greene was parodied by The Onion in “How Universities Are Cracking Down On Palestine Protests“: “Colleges like Indiana University are setting a strict 11 p.m. curfew for all feelings.”
See the overview piece “U.S. universities spent the summer strategizing to suppress student activism. Here is their plan,” by Carrie Zaremba: “University administrators across the United States have declared an indefinite state of emergency on college campuses. …
“Run by ex-military, law enforcement, and campus public safety officials, the risk and crisis management consulting industry constitutes a critical node of a larger repression network of state actors, partisan off-campus groups, and the Zionist lobby, who collectively work to criminalize student political dissent. …
“This coordinated crackdown is further exemplified by the Hillel Foundation and Secure Community Network’s (SCN) recent launch of ‘Operation SecureOurCampuses’ …
“Bans on encampments, temporary structures, amplified sound, chalking, freestanding signs, flyering, outdoor displays, and event tables are among the measures introduced to curtail political expression. …
“Universities have methodically crafted policies to enshrine the privileged status of students who align with their political and material interests. New York University’s updated Guidance and Expectations on Student Conduct codifies the conflation of antisemitism and anti-Zionism into the school’s non-discrimination and anti-harassment policy and procedures for students (NDAH). …
“Such coordination will fuel the increased militarized campus policing emblematic of the post-9/11 era, with over 100 colleges and universities now equipped with military surplus gear through the Department of Defense’s 1033 program. …
“Long before the Student Intifada, both private and public universities sought to eliminate Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) from their campuses. …
“In a statement condemning new university anti-protesting policies, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) denounced the introduction of these ‘top-down edicts’ that ‘bypass the central role of elected faculty bodies, such as faculty senates, in university governance.’ …
“The consequences of new university anti-protest policies have already unfolded at the University of Michigan. On August 28, police violently intervened to thwart a ‘die-in’ on the Diag organized by the school’s divestment coalition.”
