RUBEN NAVARRETTE JR.: Campus protests represent moment of crisis for higher education in America

Right about now, I imagine that many Americans following the news are wondering the same thing I am: What good is an expensive university education if the young person receiving it comes up short on kindness, compassion and common sense?

As you get older, you see that those are the things that really matter in life. One day, when you are gone, people probably won’t talk about what college you attended. But they’re sure to mention the effect you had on others, good or bad.

More colleges and universities in this country should offer courses on life skills — and maybe include some training about the proper way to treat fellow human beings. The Golden Rule has been forgotten. People demand to be heard, even as they try to silence others.

At more than a dozen university campuses around the country — including Yale University, University of California at Berkeley and the University of Michigan — protests over the war in the Middle East and the United States’ support for Israel are dividing students and confounding administrators.

It started at Columbia University. The Ivy League school, located in upper Manhattan, has become the epicenter of the campus protests. On April 18, more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters who were demanding that the university divest from companies that do business with Israel refused to vacate an encampment they had set up. After being given repeated warnings, they were arrested for trespassing, which sparked an even larger and more vocal protest. Within days, protests erupted at other schools on both coasts — and at several colleges and universities in between.

For the 2023-2024 academic year, the cost of tuition and fees at Columbia was $32,670 per semester, according to the school’s website.

That’s a lot of money to shell out for what will be until the end of classes for the year — April 29 — a hybrid online education that will offer virtual lectures as a substitute for in-person classes.

The decision to go hybrid, which was made by Columbia President Minouche Shafik, is not leadership. Rather, it’s capitulation — on multiple fronts.

It’s not just that Shafik has given in to the threat of violence if students were to remain on campus, continuing to get in each other’s faces. It is deeply disturbing to see videos of pro-Palestinian protesters swarming Jewish students, calling them “Zionists” and then proceeding to harass, taunt and threaten them. The president should be using her power — including the ability to mobilize the campus police force, or ask for more assistance from the New York Police Department — to protect Jewish students and not simply send them home.

Shafik is also surrendering to what social psychologists like Jonathan Haidt — a professor at New York University Stern School of Business, and author of the new book, “The Anxious Generation” — warn are signs of mental illness and disturbing loner tendencies among many young people today. Part of the reason, Haidt notes, is the prevalence of smartphones and social media, which limit face-to-face interaction. By resorting to online learning, Shafik is acknowledging that some of Columbia’s students need a timeout because they can’t play nice with others.

The whole world is watching with concern what is happening at the intersection of 116th street and Broadway. And they’re wondering if the kids are all right.

That includes members of Congress. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-NY, called Shafik’s decision to cancel in-person classes “an admission of failure.” Torres also said the university president had “chosen to surrender control of Columbia to an antisemitic fringe.”

The Democrat did not hold back.

“If you cannot ensure the safety of your students, then you have no business serving as president of any university, let alone the alma mater of Alexander Hamilton,” Torres said in a statement. “What Columbia University needs is not an appeaser of antisemitism but a leader who will fight with moral clarity against it.”

Finally, Torres called on Shafik to lead — or leave.

“That Columbia University has failed its Jewish students so profoundly is an indelible stain on the soul of the institution,” he said. “If the president of Columbia University cannot lead with moral clarity, then she should step aside for a true leader who can and will.”

Bravo for Torres. This is a moment of crisis for higher education in America. It’s time for our elected officials to speak plainly and tell us what is in their hearts. The New York congressman rose to the challenge. And in doing so, Torres is offering students — and the rest of us — a lesson that is as valuable as anything they teach in the Ivy League.

Ruben Navarrette’s email address is crimscribe@icloud.com. His podcast, “Ruben in the Center,” is available through every podcast app.