GW Protestors: Placing Us in Police Care is an ‘Act of Violence’

GW Protestors: Placing Us in Police Care is an ‘Act of Violence’ By: Sam Cosme Tuesday afternoon George Washington University students organized a class walkout to express disapproval of the presidential election results. Out of 10,000 undergraduates, only about 400 participated. I sat in my Poverty, Work, Welfare class, when students dressed in black began shutting their laptops to leave for the protest. The professor, who clearly leans Left, simply shook their hands and told the class “it’s for a good cause.” Another political science professor gave students attendance credit if they missed class to participate in the march. Protesters presented a radical list of demands directed towards the GW administration (listed below) and carried a pride flag, a Palestinian Flag, and #NotMyPresident signs. The demands call on the university to stop depending on the university police because doing so constitutes an “act of violence.” They also call on the university to provide regular legal clinics for transgender students in the process of transitioning, “increase its acceptance” of Palestinian students, and provide legal support for “undocumented students and their families.”

• “The University must issue an official statement detailing its specific dedication to the protection of its students of color. This statement must acknowledge white supremacy and racism, and it must assert itself on the side of people of color”
• “The University must re-channel its resources and money to its fundamental requirement: to protect students. This safety must not depend on the University’s police. The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the United States, has formally endorsed President-Elect Donald Trump. The FOP includes over 10,000 members in Washington, DC, many of which have jurisdiction over GW’s campus. Placing us in these officers’ care is an act of violence, especially for Black students.
• “The University must provide legal support for undocumented students and their families”
• “The University should provide bi-semester legal clinics to assist transgender students in the legal process of changing name and gender markers”
• “The university must increase its support and protection of Muslim identified students, including condemnation of Islamaphobia, and seek to dismantle structural Islamaphobia within its own institution. No dress code policies should interfere with the ability for students to wear religious clothing”
• “It must increase its acceptance of Palestinian international students in order to protect its Palestinian students from the escalating state-sanctioned genocide”

The full list of demands can be viewed here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.  Not only are the majority of the requests unfeasible and ludicrous, but they are part of the extremist leftist agenda where they pick and choose which groups of people should get more financial assistance and support. Where will the money for all of these funding demands, especially legal services, come from considering it could amount to tens of thousands of dollars? Why are students calling the service of police officers in the area “an act of violence” when these officers are the people closing down roads for your march? Instead of encouraging students to hide in their safe spaces and leave class because of an election result they are unwilling to accept, why don’t we teach students to understand that there are going to be people in the real world with a diverging opinion and that they, more often than not, have to accept that reality? In response to these demands, GW YAF released a statement slamming the protestors, remarking, “We hope the University will stand against this radical list of demands and will affirm its commitment to meaningful diversity–a diversity of viewpoints and ideas where we can passionately disagree and yet engage civilly and respectfully. Perhaps if our peers would get off the streets and return to the classroom, we could have that productive dialogue.” Sam Cosme is an intern at Young America’s Foundation and a member of GW YAF.