FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

May 3, 2024

CONTACT

Nick Zuroski | nick@allianceforpeacebuilding.org

Washington, DC, USA — The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP)—a leading nonpartisan global peacebuilding network of 200+ organizations working in 181 countries, including the United States, to end violent conflict and build sustainable peace—urges American university and college administrators to protect civic spaces and rights and abide by peacebuilding and civilian protection best practices in response to campus protests across the country calling for divestment from Israel and an end to the war in Gaza.

Over the past few weeks, approximately 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested on university and college campuses in the U.S., and in many cases, administrators have brought in law enforcement, who have used violent tactics against protesters, including tear gas, physical force, and riot gear. The confrontations have also driven wider community violence, such as in Los Angeles where masked attackers injured 15 protesters at an encampment, to which law enforcement was slow to respond.

Universities and colleges that rank low on the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s (FIRE) College Free Speech Rankings—such as Tulane University, the University of Florida, Columbia University and UCLA—have responded poorly to demonstrations and resorted to forcibly removing protestors. The FIRE ranking measures indicators around comfort expressing ideas, tolerance of different views, administrative support, and how universities address disruptive conduct. However, not all demonstrations have led to violence or repression. Brown University recently reached an agreement with protesters, in which they agreed to remove their encampment in response to the university pledging to hold a vote to divest from companies that support Israel. At Ohio State University, the Divided Community Project started the #CampusBridge initiative, which aims to support campus leaders with resources grounded in dispute resolution theory and practice, including guidance on how schools and law enforcement can peacefully prepare for demonstrations in order to reduce the likelihood of violence.

The protests and violence on university and college campuses between protestors, administrators, police, and counter-protestors reflect wider trends of increasing instability and declining social cohesion and trust across the country. For years, conflict experts have been sounding the alarm that conflict dynamics are increasing in the U.S. One-in-five adults in the U.S. now believe Americans may have to resort to violence to “get the country back on track.” As of March 2024, 65 percent of Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction. Hyperpolarization has worsened, growing by 3 percent in 2023, and trust and solidarity has significantly decreased in the U.S., undermining the country’s ability to collectively manage crises. Overall peacefulness in the U.S. continues to backslide on an annual basis—a consistent trend since 2015. For eight consecutive years, the U.S. has ranked as a “flawed democracy” in The Economist’s Democracy Index, largely due to decreasing popular support for democracy. Nationalism and violent extremism continue to increase, with hundreds of Americans killed by far-right and far-left extremist attacks since 1990.

AfP calls on U.S. college and university administrators to refrain from action that can lead to violence against demonstrators, protect civic spaces, rights, and safety, and allow access of vital third-party actors such as the media and legal observers. Doing so can ensure that campus responses do not fuel violence, and instead build trust and support mediation and non-violent solutions. By rigorously adhering to peacebuilding best practices, U.S. colleges and universities  can secure spaces for free speech, combat Islamophobia and anti-semitism, and demonstrate commitment to addressing the drivers of violent conflict and extremism at home and build sustainable peace in the U.S.

The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), named the “number one influencer and change agent” among peacebuilding institutions worldwide, is an award-winning nonprofit and nonpartisan network of 200+ organizations working in 181 countries to prevent and reduce violent conflict and build sustainable peace. AfP cultivates a network to strengthen and advance the peacebuilding field, enabling peacebuilding organizations to achieve greater impact—tackling issues too large for any one organization to address alone.