What's going on in the American Ivy League colleges?

[Primroseoil]

I can't understand what they are hoping to gain?

In what way are they ‘squandering their chances’? There’s a long tradition of student protest and activism.

Amerian recruitment companies are extremely discerning. Being expelled from a Ivy League is a very black X on a record. It looks like these students are going to be expelled.

The NY Post is a right wing Rupert Murdoch paper. Also the old George Soros barb is another antisemitic jibe / conspiracy theory that usually makes the round whenever the right wing needs a scapegoat.

Earlier in the week BBC has some reporting form other campuses and found there some student were protesting but melting away when police or security arrived because they didn't want to jeopardise other courses they'd got on next or finishing there. Other students were less bothered by being arrested and potentially charged.

Maybe these students are just less worried about consequences - either because they don't expect any or because they don't care.

These students are going to be lawyered up to the hilt so expulsions are unlikely. Once this blows over it will all be swept under the carpet.

Generally, the students taking part in protests like these are not the ones aiming for a corporate career and couldn't care less what "recruitment companies" think.

This was just kicking off when we were in NYC a couple of weeks ago.

The issue then appeared to be not the protests as such but the occupation of university property and alleged intimidation of Jewish students and staff. Not sure how it has developed further as I have not really seen it on the UK news until today.

Time and place restrictions on speech are perfectly acceptable in the US. The students who are being expelled for violating university policy on these points are unlikely to be allowed to re-enroll, even with lawsuits. You lose any sense of reasonableness when you break into a building and fail to let custodial staff leave or make them feel unsafe.

They are all proudly ‘progressive’. This is where they have progressed to.

The genocide of the Palestinians that nuts and the funding by the various zionist groups of the amerincan unis needs to stop. Thankfully the students are acting.

Also the old George Soros barb is another antisemitic jibe / conspiracy theory.

If that’s the case, then can Soros sue the New York Post for libel?

Crikey.

A bit dismissive?

It's nothing new, look at the Chicago university/ student riots in the 1960s.

I'm surprised that it's not happened sooner frankly, given what's happening in the US across the board.

I remember massive protest against Ahmadinejad from Iran.

Discerning?

They do indeed employ agencies to do background checks.

And yes, they are reluctant to hire activists. That includes people like these students, people who agitate for unions, and so on.

I am not sure I would class that as discerning though. To me it is activism by another name.

I am not at all sure I prefer it.

yup

Who are they, and what are their life plans if not recruitment companies? Isn't a corporate career the usual aim with Ivy Leagues?

Are they all from super-rich families with a future in their family business? Especially if you say they're all lawyered up?

I don't know anything about US Ivy League students or how it all works. Would be great to understand what's happening better.

Why is it so baffling that students would protest against something their government is doing that they believe is 100% immoral and wrong? Have you never heard of the Vietnam protests?
The US is funding Israel’s war on Gaza in which, off the top of my head, over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, about a third children. They cut off food aid to 2 million people leading to a famine situation; and have attacked hospitals, from some of which gruesome reports have emerged of Israeli tanks driving over people and bodies in medical scrubs found trussed up for execution etc etc. I don’t think any hospitals are now functioning in Gaza, but I could be wrong.
I mean, you might not agree, but it’s not hard to see why US students might want to protest, when Biden could stop it tomorrow.

What do you mean by that? Do you mean increasing political polarisation and increasingly extreme views? Or something else?

Nearly all will have the bank of Mom & Dad to look after them. They’ll be fine.

What about the marches against kids being slaughtered is "hideous," precisely?

Genocide 😴

Honestly the number of things Soros is meant to be behind, he's basically a James Bond supervillain by now right?

Well, yes I’m sure there are some who will have plenty of family money to help out little Marshall Emerson Jr III if he gets himself into a spot of trouble. But there are also lots of activist law firms and non-profits who would step in, as well as alumni lawyers.

It’s a bit bizarre to think that students only go to the Ivies for a corporate career. These universities also produce great writers, actors, musicians, politicians and indeed activists, and many students enrol every year hoping to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac, Art Garfunkel or Oscar Hammerstein.

By the way, noted enemy of the state, Alexander Hamilton went to Columbia. The place has history.

I have 2 DC in 2 different Ivy League universities. One is in Columbia.

They are protesting to get their universities to divest from investments that support the Israeli attack on Gaza. Some of the Ivies have large investments in arms manufacturers.
They are also protesting in favor of a ceasefire.
Some protesters will have other aims. Some have tried to hijack protests and support radical causes.
Some are probably spoilt rich kids. But some are very genuine and think that they need to protest when they see children being killed and their government and even their university are supporting and even profiting from those doing the killing.

As an aside, not all Ivy League students are wealthy. The schools have huge endowments and students can get a huge amount of financial aid which can make attending an Ivy League less expensive than attending a U.K. university. But the investment of those huge endowments are one of the causes of the protests.