Guide for Deeper Learning and Source Analysis: How Protests Are Handled on U.S. College Campuses

I decided it would be best to first learn about the current issue of how protests are handled on United States college campuses. I looked mainly to mainstream news sources for information on the topic of Israel-Hamas war protests on college campuses. I then noticed the connection between that and the protests of the 1960s and began looking for a historical account of the situation. I found one Tier 1 and one Tier 2 source for that. The search terms I used included “1960s”, “university”, “college”, “protests”, “unrest”, and “response.” I thought those worked well because they brought me to a lot of useful sources.

Source Analysis

I consider the article by Bogel-Burroughs and others a Tier II source due to its even-handed, well-researched, and detailed account of the situation. However, I used it like a Tier III source. I only took information related to general responses from some colleges. I know I can trust the New York Times to report accurate information given its widespread acclaim and credibility. 

I believe the article from Bloomberg is a Tier III source. It only contains short statistical information related to how many people were arrested. It’s a few weeks out of date, but it gives a good account of information about the scale of the situation.Therefore, I concluded I can trust Bloomberg to report the facts accurately. Also, these facts are largely compiled from other reputable sources.

The article on the Kent State shootings is a bit more tricky. I consider it a Tier II source. While it is published by Kent State, the authors were professors who shared their names and therefore probably wanted to keep the article neutral and accurate. If they didn’t, they’d risk their reputation. It is also very detailed and didn’t avoid representing many diverse opinions. 

I thought that the article in the New York Times by Sharon Otterman about Hamilton Hall was written to stir up emotions against the protestors. However, I decided it was usable because I only used it to show that there was some disruption to the status quo as a result of the protestors. And I only cited facts contained in the article. It’s either a Tier III or Tier IV source.

The article in Barron’s was very easy to use, because it is from a reputable source and reports the facts in a short format. I consider it a Tier III source. 

The article by Kellie Sorey is a Tier I source. It’s a balanced, thorough, and well-researched account of the history of college campuses in America. I also found it off of Google Scholar. For these reasons, it was very useful.

The Britannica source was only used because it stored one image which clearly exists. Britannica is also a very well-trusted encyclopedia.

I found from reading articles on the protests today that there is some bias in mainstream news sources. Right-leaning newspapers like the Wall Street Journal seemed to be more supportive of the protestors. On the other hand, more left-leaning newspapers like the New York Times seemed to be against them. They wrote more discouraging articles like the one by Otterman. I believe this may be because the sitting U.S. president is a Democrat.