175+ College Admissions Offices Promise Not to Penalize High School Students Who Get Suspended for Protesting Peacefully Against Gun Violence

in Current Affairs, Education | February 26th, 2018 3 Comments

Image by Lorie Shaull, via Flickr Commons

“Will my admission get rescinded if I get suspended for engaging in a school walk-out meant to bring attention to the school shooting issue?” That’s a question many high school students have posed to college admissions offices around the country, especially after some high school officials threatened to suspend students taking part in anti-gun demonstrations.

Many leading universities have since issued policy statements and given these students their blessing and support. In a post called “In Support of Student Protests,” Hannah Mendlowitz, from Yale’s Admissions Office, writes:

[W]e continue to get the question: will Yale look unfavorably upon discipline resulting from peaceful demonstrations?

The answer is simple: Of course not.

To the students who have reached out to us with these concerns, we have made clear that they should feel free to participate in walk-out events to bring attention to this issue without fear of repercussion. Yale will NOT be rescinding anyone’s admission decision for participating in peaceful walkouts for this or other causes, regardless of any high school’s disciplinary policy. I, for one, will be cheering these students on from New Haven.

And on the official Twitter feed for the Brown University, a tweet reads:

Applicants to Brown: Expect a socially conscious, intellectually independent campus where freedom of expression is fundamentally important. You can be assured that peaceful, responsible protests against gun violence will not negatively impact decisions on admission to Brown.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Below, find a list of 175+ universities that have granted similar assurances, along with links to their statements. The list comes from Alex Garcia, who is maintaining a regularly-updated Google Doc. Access it online here.

Again, you can refer to this Google Doc for more updates.

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Comments (3)
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  • Gerald says:
    February 26, 2018 at 8:08 am

    My guess is that the alleged support of free speech rights would stop dead in its tracks if the prospective student in question were peacefully protesting attempts to curtail citizens’ rights guaranteed under the 2nd Amendment. Professor Amy Wax’s recent WSJ piece entitled “What Can’t Be Debated on Campus” gives a sense of how repressive these institutions have become.

    Reply
  • gwr says:
    February 26, 2018 at 8:37 am

    My guess, Gerald, is that your guess is just a guess. And for what it’s worth that’s all it’s worth.

    Reply
  • Jason Baxter says:
    February 26, 2018 at 8:16 pm

    Excellent guess, Gerald, based on the lunacy we see regularly on college campuses.

    Reply

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