To Protect Campuses, Snitch and Withhold/Revoke Diplomas

WASHINGTON - June 2, 2024 - PRLog -- While disruptive illegal protests on college campuses may have subsided now that most students are away over the summer, many more illegal protests are expected in the fall when students return.

The best and most effective way to protect college campuses by discouraging this criminal behavior might be for universities to use their traditional weapon against collegiate wrongdoing: expulsion and/or withholding or even revoking diplomas.

Threatening to and then actually leaving students who have spent four or more years of their young lives, and hundreds of thousands of dollars of their or their parents' money, with nothing to show for it is much more likely to discourage criminal behavior designed to highlight a cause than the largely toothless threat of arrest and prosecution, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

Alumni, who can have considerable influence on campus, especially if they continue to provide it with financial support, should also file such complaints, especially if former or current students are afraid to do so.

Scholars estimate that more than 100 students have been suspended across the U.S. in recent weeks, and that this could mean loss of scholarship, paid tuition, access to meal plans, and even to on-campus housing.  "Students who are suspended do not get tuition refunds," one said.

Suspended or expelled students may also get their federal student loan bills sooner than they expected, and those from foreign countries will probably face additional problems, including possible deportation.

Banzhaf notes that many colleges have in fact withheld the issuance of diplomas because students have (or are alleged to have) violated university rules with their illegal protests, and that some universities have revoked diplomas which have been issued when prior wrongful conduct was later brought to their attention.  Banzhaf cites the following as examples:

* The University of Chicago'
* Vanderbilt
* Harvard
* Princeton
* The New College in Florid
* University of Mississipp
* MIT
* Columbia University

http://banzhaf.net/  jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com  @profbanzhaf