University of Missouri says lessons learned during 2015 protests led to peaceful ceasefire demonstration
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A pro-Palestine protest in Columbia this week saw no safety incidents.
Hundreds of University of Missouri students marched across campus Monday to protest the United States' ties with Israel and call for a ceasefire in Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Student organizers worked with community volunteers and the university to ensure the group followed school and city regulations. A police presence was not visible at Monday's protest.
The University of Missouri changed policies following protests nearly 10 years ago. Those were the policies students were sure to follow at Monday's pro-Palestine demonstration.
This incident-free protest comes at a time when protests are popping up across the country. Dozens of demonstrators have been arrested in the past week for encampment protests at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Texas in Austin and Columbia University in New York City. There are multiple reports of police in riot gear and using pepper spray on protesters.
A 2015 University of Missouri protest gained national notoriety when it shut down the campus. Black students protested university administration saying they were not addressing the racial climate on campus. Students camped out during this protest.
During that 2015 protest, Black football players refused to participate in any activities until then-president Tim Wolfe resigned, which he eventually did.
MU saw lower applications for years following the protests. A university spokesperson recently told ABC 17 News MU recovered from that dip after two or three years.
Two years after that protest, MU adopted a rule prohibiting camping on campus.
"Camping is not permitted on University grounds, in or under University structures, or in University buildings except under the approved circumstances noted below. This policy applies to all University of Missouri employees, students, University affiliates, contractors, and visitors," the rule reads.
University of Missouri spokesperson Christian Basi said a group of First Amendment experts convened following the 2015 protests to implement policy changes such as that camping ban.
"We've also looked at the relationships that we have with student organizations and have made a very concentrated effort to remain in very close communication with many of our student organizations," Basi said.
Columbia city ordinances require any protests to be contained to sidewalks. The ordinance makes it a misdemeanor to block the flow of traffic on public streets. Volunteers in neon yellow vests called Peacekeepers made sure Monday's protest followed this ordinance.
Basi said free speech is a pillar for the university.
"Yesterday we felt was a very large success for everyone involved," Basi said. "The student groups were able to hold their protests. They were able to have their march. They were able to utilize the routes that they wanted to take. At the same time, the university was able to continue its operations."
When asked about the protests and police activity on other campuses across the country, student organizer Ian De Smet said it's a repeat of history.
"It seems baffling to me that apparently we haven't learned anything from Kent State in 1973, the amount of like police repression to students that are doing nothing violent is reminiscent, terrifying and truly, truly disappointing as a country that we somehow so many years later find ourselves in the same situation," De Smet said.
A small counterprotest did break out Monday. Four Israeli students held an Israeli flag and a picture of an Israeli woman who was taken by Hamas and later released. Ilay Keilmanowicz said he was disgusted by the pro-Palestine protest and accused them of heading in an antisemitic direction despite having some restraint Monday.
"Actually, I have to say I'm quite impressed by the restraint that they have now," Keilmanowicz said. "It's not like what we see in Columbia (University in New York) where they talk about globalist intifada. But the fact that they put Israel's right to exist and to doubt, the fact that they put that the Jewish people maybe don't have a connection to their indigenous homeland of Israel, that is antisemitism."
Hamas released a video this week showing an American-Israeli hostage speaking and is considering Israel's latest ceasefire proposal.
