In early April, Professor William J. Maxwell held a one-man demonstration outside of Olin Library in protest against the current war against Iran. His sign called for peace during these times of turmoil and inhumanity. 

I took Maxwell’s course on James Baldwin last semester. Throughout his career, as Maxwell taught us, Baldwin often wrote about resistance — specifically in the context of racial oppression — and argued that protesting is an American right. He asserted that he loved America and, because he loved it, he “insisted on the right to criticize her perpetually.” Maxwell, as Baldwin’s student, insisted upon his own right to critique America with his demonstration, a right that many of us at WashU seem to have forgotten.

Even though Maxwell has made it clear that he doesn’t see his demonstration as something heroic, the act itself is commendable. Though the fact that someone reported his protest to WUPD is concerning, it comes as no surprise. It’s merely a sign of WashU’s current attitude toward protesting on campus. 

I am only focusing on Maxwell because he is a recent example. There have been a few demonstrations in the last couple of years, but after the administration’s response to the attempted encampment in protest of the genocide in Gaza (a term a UN commission and experts agree on), our campus has grown meek. Over one hundred people — including WashU students and faculty — were made examples of with arrests and court summons. Now, it seems to me that we are afraid to express dissent.

This fear is quite understandable. WashU showed students and faculty that they are willing to take extreme measures to mitigate protests on campus. As Chancellor Andrew D. Martin wrote in response to the attempted encampment, “To those who plan to continue to come to campus with the intention of disrupting our education and research mission and violating our policies, please know we will respond proportionately each and every time. You will not do this here.” 

Like our government, University administration uses police presence and legal repercussions as a fear tactic against protesting, but we should not and cannot let them scare us into advocating for change.

It is as important now as it has ever been to express dissent against administrative decisions on both a federal and University level. The Trump administration has brought about a resurgence of alt-right ideology, and, consequently, people are much more outspoken with their bigotry — namely xenophobia, racism, and transphobia. We have seen instances of anti-Black racism on our own campus in the past with campus response to the “BD egging incident” and recently with an anti-Black AI image that was shared on Sidechat, both of which are evidence that WashU is not an exception to prejudice — I would like to highlight that it has never been.

Although our federal and University administrations have shown us that they will not support any sign of dissent, we cannot afford to be deterred. There are issues that we need to address on our campus. WashU continues to prioritize its finances over the well-being of its students and faculty — which has been exhibited through the 300 faculty layoffs, two of them being long-time subject librarians. University administrators have yet to show that they will take adequate action against prejudice on campus. The only way that we will see change is by making ourselves heard, whether it be by making signs or shouting chants or writing letters or, when we won’t be heard in any other capacity, tearing some sh*t up.

A question that many people ask themselves regarding protests is, “What are we actually going to accomplish with this? Will higher-ups even listen to us?” Might I remind you that the combination of departments didn’t stop until students and faculty expressed vehement disagreement? There would be no African & African American Studies department at WashU if not for a sit-in held by Black student activists and other student allies. With protest, we accomplish showing administrators that we dissent. We accomplish pushing them toward administrative change. 

With everything happening in the world and on our own campus, we should exercise our freedom of expression, not our right to remain silent. We must show our administration that, in spite of their insistence otherwise, we will do this here.