Why do Gaza protests roil US universities everywhere — except CSU Bakersfield?

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – On universities all across the country, protests about human rights abuses in Gaza are roiling campuses. CSU Bakersfield is not one of them.

You’ve seen the confrontations, heard the ultimatums, felt the rage, at institutions of higher learning from LA to Austin to New York. But on the west Bakersfield campus on Stockdale Highway, a solitary figure stands alone.

Part-time lecturer Carolyn Lane, holding a Palestinian flag painted by her 10-year-old daughter, is flying solo, with nary a counter-protester in sight.

“Me, myself and I,” she said. “I figured a protest of one was better than none.”

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Lane heard some encouragement from passers-by but otherwise stood a lonely vigil on the main campus quad, in front of the student union.

“(I) wanted to be in solidarity with all that’s going on with the universities,” she said. “My daughter is at UCLA protesting and I thought — I don’t know if Bakersfield was going to join in, but I thought I would just do something … instead of feeling helpless and hopeless, join in.”

It’s not like students are totally ambivalent. The Associated Students Inc. spoke out with one voice, said student body president Daisy Alamillo.

“The resolution was passed back in March, I believe, or the beginning of April … calling for a cease fire in the Gaza strip and condemning human rights violations and war crimes,” she said.

But little else. Brayan Garcia, a freshman from Arvin, said it just doesn’t seem to be in the school’s collective nature.

“This is …  a (keep) to-itself type of school,” he said. “They don’t really like making that much noise. I mean, we don’t have a football team to begin with, if you get me.”

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Mark Martinez, a CSUB political science professor and advisor to interim President Vernon Harper, said the lack of activism is the product of a range of factors.

In a text message he said: “This is largely a blue collar school where students are more concerned with getting their degrees and getting on with their lives than anything else.

“It’s primarily a commuter school, too, and that has an effect on campus culture and therefore the tendency toward activism.”

“Bakersfield is a conservative city, and that plays a role.

“And I think the relative lack of interest in the Study Abroad program is a factor. Study Abroad is an important program because it fosters an understanding of global events and attitudes. Many students here at CSUB just see it as a luxury they don’t have the time or money for,” Martinez said.

ASI president Alamillo essentially agrees.

“It really depends on the climate of the university and ours has never necessarily been one to be … a huge (campus for) protesting … So I think it depends on the community.”

So, is it a lack of concern, or just the nature of the student body on this campus? Most likely it’s both.

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