Over at Inside Higher Ed, there is a piece on “Quelling Racial Tensions,” calling for the application of conflict-resolution principles in campus racial protests. My posted comment:
I have to say that most of this seems to me to be better addressed to the typical protestor than to the typical dean. Similarly, the central point in this piece is that “dealing with racial conflict is a problem of affirming the dignity of the other” — and what dean denies the dignity of the other? And perhaps I missed it, but it’s interesting that IHE has so far failed to cover the way student protestors were handled recently at Ohio State. The administrator there certainly was respectful, but he made it clear that those who break campus rules will be punished. Period. As Abraham Lincoln told the Lyceum, “There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.”
And, if your time is limited, don’t waste it on reading the IHE article; instead read David French’s post regarding the Ohio State matter on “The Corner,” to which I link in my comment above.