In an era when college presidents race to bend to outrageous demands from lefty students, Northwestern University’s Morton Schapiro is a rare case of backbone.
Campus group NU Community Not Cops has marched daily since Oct. 12, demanding Schapiro disband Northwestern’s police department. The “protests” have escalated to vandalism of the campus and local shops, plus a raucous midnight demo at the prez’s home (“Piggy Morty” was one cry).
In an open letter, Schapiro acknowledged “the many injustices faced by Black and other marginalized groups” but refused to engage with “individuals who continue to use the tactics of intimidation and violence.”
Schapiro has received an NAACP Community Service Award; he replaced loans with grants in financial-aid packages and founded the Northwestern Academy to help Chicago public-school students apply to college.
A true liberal, he says protesters “have no right to menace members of our academic and surrounding communities.” And that “vandalizing property, lighting fires and spray-painting phrases such as ‘kill the pigs’ ” are no “legitimate forms of free speech.”
In response, the kids are now also demanding Schapiro quit. If they listened to him instead, they might actually learn something.