Could colleges be targets not just of stepped-up rhetoric but also of increased violence? Absolutely, say a number of criminologists, consultants, and scholars who study extremism. Given the combustibility of political tempers in recent years, experts are pointing to the 2017 “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville, Va. as a stark warning, and cautioning higher ed leaders that it's unwise to shrug off the possibility of something worse occurring.
In
Managing Political Tensions, The Chronicle interviewed several dozen experts on politics, extremism, hate groups, psychology, media, and civic literacy, campus security and policing, and risk management. Learn why they predicted that campus political conflict could accelerate amid a worrisomely volatile mix of societal ingredients to which colleges should pay close attention.
