PSA: The protest at my school over a guest speaker got way out of hand

I was at the University of Michigan last month when a group tried to shout down a professor they disagreed with. They blocked the doors and security had to get involved. Does anyone else think this kind of thing just makes people stop listening?

3 comments

3 Comments

sage_moore371mo ago

Yeah but sometimes that disruption is the whole point. I get what @kim.nina is saying about people tuning out, but when polite talks get ignored for years, what's left? Like at my school, they kept inviting speakers who called trans people a danger. Kids tried the official complaint process and got nowhere. Blocking the door might be the only way to get the admin to even notice there's a problem. It forces a conversation everyone was trying to avoid.

cameronp471mo ago

Had a client who worked in student affairs at a state college. They said the most effective protests they saw always had a clear next step ready. Blocking a door gets attention, but if you don't have a written demand and a media contact lined up before security shows, you just become a logistics problem. The admin will talk about the disruption, not the speaker.

kim.nina1mo ago

Blocking the doors and needing security is exactly where these things cross a line. It stops being about the message and just becomes a disruption. I saw something similar at my old college, and it really did make people stop listening to the cause, even if they might have agreed at first.