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Some 18% of college students on campuses with large protests reported in a new survey that the political climate interfered with their education, compared with 62% who said it did not.
The nationwide survey, administered by SurveyUSA and led by Dr. Neil Gross, the Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology at Colby College, examines college students’ involvement and opinions surrounding last spring’s antiwar protests encompassing a small percentage (16%) of student participants nationwide. The survey conducted June 4-14 reached 859 respondents, targeting U.S. residents, ages 18-25, who were full-time undergraduate students at four-year colleges and universities.
The survey found that twice as many students at schools with large, disruptive protests agreed that the on-campus political climate interfered with their education compared with those at schools with small protests, or no protests — 31% versus 14%, or 13%, respectively.
“Major student protests and demonstrations are often concentrated at more selective colleges and universities, but nationwide less than one out of every 10 college students attends a school with an acceptance rate of 25% or lower, so many students weren’t all that directly affected by last year’s Gaza protests and encampments,” said Gross.
The survey also found that among respondents who reported protests at their school, 52% said they approved of those protests, while 23% disapproved. Moreover, it revealed that 40% disapproved of how administrators at their schools responded to the protests, compared to 26% who approved.
“The broader issue is that colleges and universities weren’t able to get out in front of the political tensions; they were reacting — often poorly — when incidents occurred instead of harnessing disagreement for educational purposes when that was possible. We’ll see how they do this year,” said Gross.