Arizona Superintendent Urges K-12 Schools To Model ASU, UArizona Handling Of Gaza Protesters

Arizona Superintendent Urges K-12 Schools To Model ASU, UArizona Handling Of Gaza Protesters

By Staff Reporter |

Arizona Department of Education Superintendent Tom Horne advised K-12 schools to look to Arizona State University (ASU) and University of Arizona (UArizona) for how to respond to Gaza protesters. 

In a press release issued on Monday following a long weekend of higher education protests against Israel in Arizona and nationwide, Horne praised ASU and UArizona leadership — specifically presidents Robert Robbins and Michael Crow — for their handling of the mass protests compared to other universities, which he characterized as antisemitic.

“Robert Robbins and Michael Crow deserve exceptional praise for standing up to antisemitism on their campuses. This stands in stark contrast to how many colleges, universities and ideological faculty members have kowtowed to disruptive pro-Hamas demonstrations,” said Horne. “It is also an excellent template for K-12 schools in Arizona to follow should any attempt be made by students to copy the type of protests that have shut down portions of college campuses and caused Jewish students to feel unsafe.”

Horne warned that history would repeat itself, should those in leadership not be proactive with handling protests. The superintendent cited several incidents of violence that broke out at other campuses nationwide, including rocks reportedly thrown at Jewish students at Columbia University and a pole with a Palestinian flag being stabbed into the eye of another Jewish student at Yale University. 

“Our DNA is no different from the DNA of Germans in the 1930s, and Nazis started with young thugs attacking people on the street,” said Horne. “We need to be vigilant.”

Law enforcement for both campuses were swift to deter and move out protesters as they attempted to establish encampments. 

Of the two institutions, UArizona had the calmer turnout in terms of protestors. At ASU, over 70 arrests were made, 15 of whom were students, after protesters set up an illegal encampment as part of their protest. 

UArizona protesters also set up an encampment on Monday, but later dispersed. After those protesters left, officials barricaded the campus mall to prevent further encampments.

Law enforcement had to drive out the protesters and relied on assistance from fraternity members to assist in cleanup. 

However, by Tuesday protesters returned to encamp again elsewhere on campus.

A majority of the Gaza protests were concentrated along the upper east coast. The following higher education institutions have experienced Gaza protests over the last few weeks: 

  • California: California State Polytechnic Institute, Stanford University, University of Southern California Los Angeles;
  • Colorado: Auraria Campus;
  • Connecticut: University of Connecticut, Yale University;
  • D.C.: George Washington University; 
  • Delaware: University of Delaware;
  • Florida: Florida State University;
  • Georgia: Emory University, University of Georgia;
  • Illinois: Northwestern University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign;
  • Indiana: Indiana University Bloomington;
  • Massachusetts: Emerson College, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Tufts University;
  • Michigan: Michigan State University;
  • Minnesota: University of Minnesota; 
  • Missouri: Washington University.
  • North Carolina: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill;
  • New Jersey: Princeton University;
  • New Mexico: University of New Mexico Albuquerque;
  • New York: City College of New York, Columbia University, Cornell University, Fashion Institute of Technology, the New School, New York University, University of Rochester; 
  • Pennsylvania: Swarthmore College, University of Pennsylvania;
  • Ohio: Ohio State University;
  • Rhode Island: Brown University;
  • South Carolina: University of South Carolina;
  • Texas: Rice University, University of Texas at Austin;

AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.