To Davis, the statements from faculty and administrators supporting Israel or condemning pro-Palestinian protests have helped to create a “volatile” and “polarizing” campus climate. Many of the statements have a “complete and utter disregard” for how Palestinian people have been treated for the past 75 years, Davis said. This can be especially problematic for colleges with large populations of Palestinian and other Arab students, he said.
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What’s Different About Student Activism Over the Israel-Hamas War →
A wave of student activism has spread across the country this month following the onset of the Israel-Hamas war. And more activity is likely in the coming days, with the national Students for Justice in Palestine group issuing a second call to action for its campus chapters this week.
The demonstrations and the reactions to them stand out in the long history of campus protests, experts say. Students are more skeptical, more influential, and simultaneously more vulnerable than ever.
Read MoreWhy Didn't Colleges Rein In Their Police →
Three years after George Floyd’s murder, campus safety hasn’t changed much. George Washington University’s police department will begin arming some officers this fall for the first time. Portland State University quietly moved away from a 2021 policy change that had restricted its officers’ ability to patrol with weapons. Dr. Davis said the backpedaling on reform efforts “communicates a lack of political commitment” to the racial-justice priorities colleges identified in 2020. Davis served on the aforementioned Michigan task force.
Read MoreDavis and Lab Launch #PoliceFreeCampus Podcast
The #PoliceFreeCampus Podcast engages organizers, practitioners, and scholars in discussing the challenges and possibilities for colleges and universities without the police. This public scholarship program builds on the Campus Abolition Research Lab’s ongoing research focus on campus policing (i.e., #PoliceFreeCampus Project)
Read MoreCollege Board Unveils New AP African American Studies Course →
The College Board has released the official framework for its new AP African American studies course. The release builds upon the pilot program that College Board released and implemented in select U.S. public high schools last year.
Read MoreUC Strike Expected to Inspire Further Campus Organizing →
Although graduate workers have seen benefits from striking, since minoritized students are often subject to barriers that prevent them from attending graduate school, the strikes do not benefit everyone equally, according to Dr. Charles H.F. Davis III, an assistant professor in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan.
Read MoreBiden Cancels Up to $20,000 of Student Debt →
The moment has finally arrived. The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it is moving forward with its promise to partially cancel student debt.
Biden also announced the student loan repayment pause, issued due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will cease at the end of this year. These changes come on top of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver and debt cancellation of students defrauded by predatory institutions, totaling $32 billion in student debt relief for 1.6 million Americans.
Read MoreThe Latest Campus-Safety Activist: Parents →
The signs, located near the flagship campus, in Columbus, are the work of a group of Ohio State University parents that is trying to shine a spotlight on what they see as the university’s failure to curtail off-campus crime. The group, Buckeyes for a Safe Ohio State, started after a 23-year-old student, Chase Meola, was shot and killed at an off-campus residence in 2020.
Read MoreDavis Named Anti-Racist Digital Research Initiative Awardee →
Charles H.F. Davis III has been selected as a one of six 2022 Anti-Racist Digital Research Initiative Awardees by the University of Michigan.
Read MoreWhat Led to Howard U.’s Longest Protest Ever? →
The longest sit-in in Howard University’s history may enter a new phase on Friday, when Wayne A.I. Frederick, the university’s president, is slated to address the community in a virtual town hall — a key demand of the student activists who began their occupation of the student center 24 days ago.
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