The Outstater

April 30, 2024

Why Not Just Kiss IU Goodbye?

“Our university must create a space for meaningful dialogue, while ensuring that our campus is safe and welcoming to all, and that peaceful protest, as many experienced today, symbolizes our steadfastness to the free expression of ideas,” Whitten wrote ineffectually days before this week’s campus melee.

FOR THOSE OF YOU who still care whether Indiana University remains in Indiana, here is a boilerplate press release for IU President Pam Whitten: 

“This is not complicated: The (university) is not a daycare, and we do not treat protesters like children — they knew the rules, they broke the rules, and they’ll face the consequences. For many days, we have patiently told protesters — many of whom are outside agitators — that they were able to exercise their right to free speech and free assembly. And we also told them that clearly prohibited activities would result in a trespassing order (barring them from all university properties for three years) and an interim suspension from the university. For days, (the university) patiently and consistently reiterated the rules. Today, individuals who refused to comply were arrested after (the university) gave multiple warnings and multiple opportunities to comply.”

The statement is based on one released this week by the University of Florida, where any serious scholar or researcher will be heading unless Gov. Eric Holcomb sets aside his retirement planning long enough to direct the IU Board of Trustees to provide some adult supervision. 

While the trustees are at it, they can help the 700 IU facility members who signed a petition presuming management prerogative to find better jobs elsewhere.

Sometimes problems solve themselves. — tcl

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