Talking Stick - September/October 2017 - 16

JUST IN

Ask the Librarian
Since the height of student activism in the 1960s and 70s, some higher education institutions have been working with outdated policies when trying to deal with more recent forms of unrest. Few senior leaders (let alone younger professionals) have any
memory of student activism being a particularly significant issue during their professional careers. Furthermore, technology
has changed how people organize, how a movement spreads, and what its long-term effects are. The uptick in political activity
on campuses is testing how they respond to these new circumstances. Obviously, there is no foolproof way to manage this, but
there are ways to avoid some missteps.
Set some ground rules. As with any
other sort of campus incident, it's helpful to plan a response in advance. Where
might a protest take place? Are there features or objects in that area that might
be dangerous if there is a large, agitated
crowd? How is that area accessed? Who
responds to the incident? Are there security or safety protocols that are not open
for negotiation? Where is there room for
negotiation? Are there effective ways of
expressing empathy and making it clear
the protests are heard? What went well,
and what didn't in past incidents on
campus? How might the outcome have
been changed? This preparation could
also include a response to protests or
unrest taking place partially or entirely
on social media.
Steel yourself. Student unrest will
challenge, exhaust, and possibly confuse
you. It will be uncomfortable. There will
be some demands you can't or shouldn't
fulfill, and people will be upset. This
is nothing new to campus housing
professionals, but someone demanding a single room you can't provide is
not usually as emotionally fraught as a
principled protester demanding changes
you cannot immediately make.
Be a fly on the wall. Monitor the
climate on campus and on social media.
Ask student leaders for their feedback.
Don't get swept into the drama but use
these sources as clues to the atmosphere
on campus and to what students are
thinking. This can help you subtly
defuse situations that might become
unmanageable or plan a larger response
if necessary.

TALKING STICK

Be proactive. Using your
institution's values and mission to
guide your response, look for ways
to constructively involve students in
the process of discussing and making
changes. Not all student activists will
be interested, and this won't make
everyone happy all the time, but it will
send the message that you're listening,
making note of their concerns, and
endeavoring to collaborate.
Give it some context. Invite experts to
visit your halls. Invite faculty to discuss
the history of free speech, activism, and
political movements to give students
some idea about the distinction between
being nice and being civil. As Virginia
Koch and Paul Harris suggest in their
article about finding opportunities for
dialogue, it is not always necessary to
be nice, and in fact this imperative has
been used as a way of silencing minorities who have objections that make others uncomfortable. However, being civil
- not allowing the content of a protest
to become intensely and unnecessarily
personal - is always important.
Librarians are your friends. Okay
I admit. I'm biased, but I think Paul
Gordon Brown, one of the panelists on a
2016 roundtable about student activism
and civility, would back me up. As he
explained, most of us are friends with
people who share our political views,
are more likely to accept views that align
with our existing beliefs, and are less
likely to critically evaluate news sources
that agree with our own opinion. It takes
extra effort to learn about the views of
people with whom we disagree.

RESOURCES
* Paul Gordon Brown, Larry Faerman, Paul
Harris, Virginia Koch, and Shane Lloyd,
"Student Activism & Civility" (virtual roundtable, May 26, 2016), http://library.acuho-i.
org/Presto/content/Detail.aspx?q=YWN0aXZ
pc20=&ctID=YzAyZDQwOGEtMjM2NS00O
WZkLTgzNjgtZTdhMTBjYjg0YTA2&rID=NT
Q2Mg==&qcf=&ph=VHJ1ZQ==&bckToL=VHJ
1ZQ==&.
* Emily Galindo and Steve Stauffer, "Student
Activism: Moving from 'Us' & 'Them' to
'We!'" (presentation at the 2012 ACUHO-I
Annual Conference & Exposition), http://
prestohost08.inmagic.com/inmagicgenie/
catfiles/2012/07/605Galindo.pdf.
* Virginia Koch and Paul Harris, "Let's Talk.
The American Presidential Elections Offer
an Opportunity for Dialogue and Community Engagement" (Talking Stick, Sept./Oct.
2016).
* Jean MacKimmie and Gay Perez, "Student
Activism on Campus: What Housing Professionals Should Know" (presentation at
the 2017 ACUHO-I Annual Conference &
Exposition), http://prestohost08.inmagic.com/
inmagicgenie/catfiles/2017/07/Student%20
Activism%20Powerpoint.pdf.
* Tom Scheuermann, "Free Speech, Hate
Speech, and More Speech on Campus: An
Overview (and Update)" (presentation at
the 2017 ACUHO-I Annual Conference &
Exposition), http://prestohost08.inmagic.com/
inmagicgenie/catfiles/2017/07/TomSFreeSpProtPPTFJune9_ACUHOI_2017.pdf.

Emily Glenn is the ACUHO-I librarian
and is available to assist with most of
your questions. She can be reached at
Emily@acuho-i.org, and she is on
Twitter as @acuhoi_lib.

http://www.library.acuho-i.org/Presto/content/Detail.aspx?q=YWN0aXZpc20=&ctID=YzAyZDQwOGEtMjM2NS00OWZkLTgzNjgtZTdhMTBjYjg0YTA2&rID=NTQ2Mg==&qcf=&ph=VHJ1ZQ==&bckToL=VHJ1ZQ==& http://www.library.acuho-i.org/Presto/content/Detail.aspx?q=YWN0aXZpc20=&ctID=YzAyZDQwOGEtMjM2NS00OWZkLTgzNjgtZTdhMTBjYjg0YTA2&rID=NTQ2Mg==&qcf=&ph=VHJ1ZQ==&bckToL=VHJ1ZQ==& http://prestohost08.inmagic.com/inmagicgenie/catfiles/2012/07/605Galindo.pdf http://prestohost08.inmagic.com/inmagicgenie/catfiles/2012/07/605Galindo.pdf http://prestohost08.inmagic.com/inmagicgenie/catfiles/2017/07/Student%20Activism%20Powerpoint.pdf http://prestohost08.inmagic.com/inmagicgenie/catfiles/2017/07/Student%20Activism%20Powerpoint.pdf http://prestohost08.inmagic.com/inmagicgenie/catfiles/2017/07/Student%20Activism%20Powerpoint.pdf http://prestohost08.inmagic.com/inmagicgenie/catfiles/2017/07/Student%20Activism%20Powerpoint.pdf

Talking Stick - September/October 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - September/October 2017