March 19, 2003

BEST BRANDEIS ACTIVISM EVER: According

BEST BRANDEIS ACTIVISM EVER: According to Instapundit, one of the more successful student organizing groups in support of American military action in Iraq is the one at- Brandeis? Yes, as it turns out, a student group called United We Stand has formed at my alma mater, and has big plans for the first few days of the conflict. In response to a walkout that was planned months ago for the first day of the war, UWS is encouraging "all students to attend their regularly scheduled classes -even if your professors do not." (Emphasis mine).
That, to me, is the funniest part of all of this. In the '60s, when students staged strikes to protest the war in Vietnam, a big reason why was because their universities had investments in the defense industry, and thus were indirectly supportive of the war effort. These days, next to no such investments exist, and it's the professors themselves who are organizing, while the students (well-intentioned but hopelessly plagued with '60s fantasies) are merely along for the ride. The professors and students alike have been waiting 30 years for the '60s to come back and now they finally have their wish- although it's worth noting that two of Brandeis' most celebrated American Studies professors, Jerry Cohen and Stephen Whitfield- both of whom were very much alive in the '60s- have come out in support of the war.
Reynolds also links to a Justice story about how a group of anti-war students attempted a "hostile takeover" of the United We Stand group, by encouraging anti-war students to attend meetings and force votes on amendments to the club's constitution. The anti-war camp says the proposal was a joke, but my sophomore year a similar plot was hatched by members of the board of Brandeis' Reform Jewish organization to, in the name of "pluralism and improved Reform/Orthodox relations," sabotage the Orthodox organization's club elections in order to cause the election of the more "progressive" candidate. Thankfully, the plan failed, as did the anti-United We Stand effort.
Instapundit links to the Justice... I guess today is an historic day for more than one reason.

Posted by Stephen Silver at March 19, 2003 07:14 PM
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