Were glad to know that numerous colleges are considering suspensions and expulsions for students who vandalized campuses and committed violence at graduation time this spring.

What took place at UCLA, Columbia University, MIT and elsewhere has been well publicized the setting up of encampments by student protestors, often relating to the desire to support Palestinians and rail against Israels efforts to stop Hamas terrorist acts.

Some would describe the protests as examples of free speech. From our perspective, however, they were violent acts showing disregard to law and campus rules.

Jonathan Butcher, a senior research fellow in education policy at The Heritage Foundation, recently wrote that School officials should not have waited as long as they did to call law enforcement, and the rioters who were not students, faculty or college staff should face charges. But administrators also should be considering suspensions and expulsions for students involved.

Campus riots are not anything new, but in the most recent examples of campus unrest dating to 2015 colleges were slow to respond to students and rioters who shouted down professors and invited lecturers. Middlebury College in Vermont is one example of a site where violent shout-downs took place.

Students regurgitated the Marxist slogans from critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as they de-platformed speakersand in some cases, college administrators did not punish students, Mr. Butcher wrote. Predictably, surveys over the last decade have found that many students are afraid to speak their minds on campus for fear of being canceled, shouted down or worse.

Blocking someone elses expressive rights is not a protected form of speech. Yet surveys have found that some on campus approved of violence in the face of ideas with which they disagree. In too many situations on campuses, the message to students was clear: You can be disruptive with minimal or no consequences.

Today, however, students have pushed the bounds even further, creating so much disturbance that some schools were forced to cancel classes and graduation ceremonies because campuses were not physically safe for anyone.

Had school personnel acted decisively during riots over the last 10 years, consistently suspending or expelling violent students, perhaps disrupters would have had second thoughts.

Mr. Butcher writes, State lawmakers should revisit their conduct codes and require public college administrators to involve law enforcement and consider suspension or expulsion when students destroy school property, injure others, violate free-speech protections or otherwise commit violence.

College educators must teach students the difference between free speech and violence. The former deserves protection. The latter should be met with consequences.

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College students must learn there's a difference between free speech and violence - Norfolk Daily News