As jarring as the response to Hamas’s surprise attack that left 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 200 people, including some Americans, captured as hostages has been, the largest ripple effect in the U.S. might be how students and university administrators responded. 

Three presidents of elite universities lost their jobs because of their failure to articulate to Congress how students calling for a genocide of Jews may or may not have been protected speech. The response to their failure to condemn hateful speech on campus was bipartisan condemnation. 

Students who wanted to continue camping on campus quads weren’t deterred by their schools’ leaders losing their jobs. Some of the chaos was quelled when universities refused to bow to demands that students be exempt from failing exams if they didn’t show up in favor of remaining outside in solidarity with other anti-Israel protesters. 

A year later, the unrest hasn’t reached the same levels as last fall, when the Israeli wounds were still fresh. But, as Investigative Reporter Barnini Chakraborty wrote for us this morning, the reminders of last year’s protests are all over campuses a year later. 

“Since Oct. 7, 2023, there have been protests at 525 colleges, universities, K-12 schools, and school district offices across 317 U.S. cities and towns, according to the Crowd Counting Consortium, a collaboration between the Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center’s Nonviolent Action Lab and the University of Connecticut,” Barnini wrote. 

While protests weren’t confined to one part of the country or type of university, most of the media attention was on Columbia, where protesters and counterprotesters clashed regularly. 

“Outside Columbia’s library, several Israeli students were physically attacked after they confronted another student tearing down posters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas,” Barnini wrote. “Some students wearing hijabs and kaffiyehs, a traditional scarf worn by men in the Middle East, reported being called ‘Jew killers’ and terrorists.” 

Those clashes have been tamped down, in part because the university was sued by a group of Jewish students who contended they didn’t feel safe on campus. After the school settled with the students in June, it implemented new safety measures and has been more cognizant of the ripple effects of letting protests get out of hand. 

Other universities wanting to avoid litigation also took action over the summer, Barnini wrote. 

• Rutgers University issued a one-year suspension for the New Brunswick chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
• Case Western Reserve University instituted new rules about students receiving permission to hold protests.
• Northwestern University placed time restrictions on gathering around a popular student activist hub on campus.

Click here to read more about how Oct. 7 changed the state of student protests in the U.S. 

Harris-Walz blitz and a media sack

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), are hitting the trail this week in what has been billed as a media blitz following criticism that neither of them has spent enough time in front of the cameras. Walz, in particular, was exposed during his debate with Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as appearing uncomfortable with the stage lights shining down on him. 

And while the volume of appearances has been there for Harris, the performances have continued to be uneven, reinforcing concerns about her ability to handle tough interactions with journalists. 

White House Reporter Naomi Lim is up with an item this morning looking at the dangerous cycle Harris and Walz could get stuck in if their media appearances don’t improve. 

“Since the summer, when Harris and Walz sat down with CNN for their maiden interview as the 2024 Democratic nominees, Harris’s media appearances have been carefully curated, with Walz not doing as many in comparison. However, as polls close between them and former President Donald Trump, Harris and Walz have been conducting a media blitz — and created political problems for themselves,” Naomi wrote.

“The problem for Harris and Walz is that ‘in reality, neither is ready to be president and vice president,’ according to former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer,” Naomi wrote.

“Harris is unsteady, unreliable, and untested,” Fleischer told Naomi. “Walz is a junior varsity player who is not ready for varsity.”

After a rougher-than-expected 60 Minutes interview to start the week, Harris wound up walking into the unexpected buzzsaw of The View on Tuesday. Host Sunny Hostin likely wasn’t trying to put the screws to Harris when she asked if there was anything President Joe Biden has done in the last four years that she would do differently. But Harris’s response showed her struggle to distance herself from a historically unpopular president with whom she is still allied. 

Former Republican National Committee Communications Director Doug Heye told Naomi that Harris’s failure to differentiate herself from Biden by saying she wouldn’t have done anything differently than him revealed her weakness as the Democratic standard-bearer. 

“If she can’t answer anything substantively of what she would do on the economy or what she would do differently than Biden, she’s just not a good candidate,” Heye told Naomi. 

While Harris has struggled to put daylight between herself and Biden, Walz is creating too much space. 

After he told a reporter that he thought it was time to eliminate the Electoral College, Harris’s camp had to make it clear that wasn’t the position the campaign was taking. 

Days earlier, Walz made his debut on the Sunday talk shows, on which he said that “Harris did not support driver’s licenses, free tuition at state universities, or free healthcare through state programs for illegal immigrants despite her espousing those positions in the past,” Naomi wrote. 

Harris and Walz aren’t likely to let up on their media blitz with less than a month until Election Day. But every appearance counts for more now, which could tip the scales in their favor or convince skeptics that neither is ready for prime time. 

Click here to read more about Harris and Walz’s media missteps. 

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For your radar

Harris will participate in the taping of a town hall with Univision in Las Vegas at 4 p.m. Eastern. The town hall will air at 10 p.m. Eastern. After recording, she will travel to Phoenix, Arizona, for a campaign event at 9:30 p.m. Eastern. 

Biden has nothing on his public schedule. He and Harris will be briefed throughout the day on the response to Hurricane Milton.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will brief reporters at 1:30 p.m.

Former President Barack Obama will campaign for Harris in Pittsburgh.

Former President Donald Trump will speak to the Detroit Economic Club at 1 p.m. 

Maryland Senate candidates former Gov. Larry Hogan and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks will debate at 7 p.m.