This Speakout submission was written by Mark Johnsen, pastor at the Brookings United Church of Christ

As I have watched the news the last few days, I feel called to address the current situation which has been occurring on college campuses across the country. I am at a loss to understand what is going on in the minds of these college presidents.

Recently I heard an interview with one college student who was arrested for peacefully protesting the war (or more accurately, genocide) which is happening as we speak, in the Gaza strip of Israel. This student mentioned that the student association of this particular school began asking for a meeting with its president last November. They wanted to have a face to face discussion regarding the university’s alumni endowment fund, as they were seeking to have it divested from corporations based in Israel.

This actually seems like a totally reasonable request. As of fiscal year 2023, universities across this country were sitting upon $839 billion, which may be invested in any direction. In fact, it would be simple for these schools to just pick a mutual fund that doesn’t include companies which are based, or have large operations in Israel. If a university felt that was too controversial, they could simply stop investing in stocks altogether and put their money into government bonds or certificates of deposit. But then of course, they would not make as many almighty dollars!

The point is, many of these universities could have prevented the situations they have found themselves in, if they would have simply met with their student association leaders. But rather, they arrogantly refused. Instead, they have taken us back to the 1960s and responded by calling upon police and even the National Guard to violently beat and arrest their own students. In some locations students have gone too far, such as taking over a building, but most of these protests have been peaceful. And students have an absolute right to exercise their first amendment right to free speech and freedom of assembly (especially upon the property of land grant universities which they and every other tax payer in their state owns).

So why is it that young people so often are the ones who have to rise up and become the conscience of our nation, to tell people who are older (and supposed to be wiser) the difference between right and wrong. What our nation did in the Vietnam war was wrong, and it was college students who were telling us it was wrong at the time. Decades later, we now know they were right in their assessment. Today, college students are telling us what the nation of Israel is doing in Gaza is wrong. How long will it now take us all to realize they are once again right?

Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Our children and grandchildren across this country are using the mantle of protest, in an effort to bring peace to our world. Maybe it’s time that we finally start listening to them, and in turn, the one we call the “Prince of Peace.”