1st Place, News Coverage in a Series
2024-25, Division 1-MS, News Writing
By Caleb Goldstein & Yi-An Liao
The Crane-Clarion
Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School
As the sun set on May 4 on the Diag at University of Michigan, individuals set down prayer
rugs next to steps covered with pro-Palestinian graffiti. A maze of camping tents covered the adjacent brick pathway, and students with keffiyeh scarves over their shoulders sat chatting quietly. Faces were covered with masks to conceal identities, as outlined in a posted list of rules for participants.
This was the Gaza Solidarity Encampment that began on April 22.
Not confined to the University of Michigan, encampments and other forms of protest stemmed from the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. They have spread across 140 college campuses in 45 states and caused concerns among some members of the incoming freshman class.
Senior Ayelet Kaplan, who is Jewish, planned to apply to schools like University of Pennsylvania after positive college tours, but the conflict between Hamas and Israel after Oct. 7 and the responses by students and faculty on those college campuses forced her to
rethink her desired list.
“It was obvious that even if I got into these amazing schools,” she told the Crane in an email, “I wouldn’t consider going because of how they failed to protect Jewish students on campus.”
The college process gets interesting
From peaceful tent communities to more aggressive vandalism and hate speech, college students and administrations are struggling to address the rising tensions over freedom of speech, the impact of war on Israelis and Palestinians, and increasing antisemitism and
Islamophobia.
The encampments and the responses from university officials have also raised concerns for prospective students, like Kaplan, who are questioning which of these colleges is the best fit for them.
“I probably took 10 schools completely off the table based on how administrations at different campuses had responded or had failed to respond to protests and antisemitic behavior on campuses,” Kaplan said. “It turned me away from Michigan, where I got into
the honor school and everything.”
Kaplan noted that behaviors such as storming into individual classrooms, banging drums, and screaming into microphones would make it challenging for her to stay focused as a new student on campus.
However, while she prepares for the possibility of a continued divisive environment in the fall, she plans not to let these platforms make her avoid places on campus. Instead, she thinks that every time she hears misinformation, she will try and fight it as best she can.
In contrast, senior Hanzalah Majid, who is Muslim, removed certain schools from his list depending on how university administrations approached free speech and their students’ ability to express their beliefs.
“While many schools flaunt their perceived diversity, they often fail to genuinely accept and integrate diverse perspectives,” Majid said. “The use of freedom of speech was often stifled and limited based on conflated interpretations, which was particularly concerning
for me.”
Majid, an international student from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, said that while he needs a culturally diverse student body, it is more important to accept the different perspectives that diversity brings. However, he believes that disagreement among people is necessary as well, as long as it is handled properly. The violent responses by administration and police in his eyes leave “less and less room for conversation.”
Senior Aarav Doshi, a Hindu student who will attend University of Pennsylvania next year, doesn’t think the protests influenced his college decision in the same way as Kaplan or Majid. His college choices focused on picking the best academic school regardless of the
climate on the campus.
These differing perspectives emphasize how the current campus cultures and rise in social activism contribute to the wide variety of factors that students must balance when making their college choices.
According to the CK College Counseling department, which followed the progression of the protests on campuses as they tried to help students prepare college applications, some students are considering activism on campus with a more critical or more favorable view toward particular schools. In an email to the Crane, the College Counseling department stated that families will have their lists of non-negotiables that could include campus safety, lifestyle, or Greek life. An additionalconsideration may now be the ability to speak freely or whether students engage in discussions respectfully on campus.
The department’s members encourage students and families to make the most informed decision when picking what school their students will attend for the next four years. They presume there will be discussions at the dinner table about how free speech and controversy will play into the safety and ultimately the college choice of various students.
Alumni revisit their choices
Not only are rising first-year students evaluating the tense atmospheres at universities, so are college students, including CK alums. A member of the CK class of 2023 at Columbia, who prefers to remain anonymous, is less concerned about the situation but believes in allowing the protests to take their course.
“It’ll be more mildly inconvenient because (there will) only be certain gates we can get in and out of campus,” the student said. “It’ll be more annoying, but it’s not that big of a deal.”
While the Gaza demonstrations at Columbia are one of the more extensive of the campus protests, this student prefers to avoid campus chaos by remaining outside the encampments and not provoking protesters.
Elliah Lester ’21, a Jewish student at the University of Michigan, feels at odds with how the school handled the protesting of Israel by students or disruption of campus events like graduation.
“I think that there are other schools that clearly supported their Jewish students far more than Michigan did,” Lester said. “I would recommend another school that was equal. I would say look at how they’re treating theirJewish students and look at how Michigan’s treating us.”
The university stated that it is “committed to maintaining an environment
that is safe and free from violence and will not tolerate violent and threatening
behavior.”
The university emphasized in public statements that it is a shared responsibility between all students and faculty to maintain a climate that does not allow any violent acts, threats, or aggressive behavior.
Lester said that while the protests had not physically hurt anyone, she described feeling uncomfortable walking through the Diag. She believes that while students have a right to protest, they are not necessarily doing it peacefully.
In an interview with the Crane, a student media liaison at the Michigan encampment spoke for TAHRIR (Transparency Accountability Humanity Reparations Investment Resistance) Coalition.
Organizing the solidarity encampment at the University of Michigan, she shared why they continue to protest and remain steadfast in their camp. The coalition is dedicated to fighting for divestment from Israel and the military-industrial complex.
“So far we’re completing our second week here,” the young woman said. “We’re fighting for the university to divest its six billion dollars from Israel as it perpetuates the killings in (Palestine).”
The young woman declined to share her identity for fear of retaliation by the administration and even law enforcement, who had already pepper sprayed and arrested students. She remained passionate about the protest for Palestinians in Gaza on campus.
However, she stated that there had not been any dialogue with people supporting Israel and they had also not yet held conversations with the administration.
Returning to CK’s Campus
Kaplan ultimately decided on Georgetown University for her next four years.
“They have a zero-tolerance policy for that kind of stuff,” she said. “I picked Georgetown because they have no tent city; protests are really contained there to this one free-speech corner on campus.”
Police are now breaking up many of the protests with force, including coercively ending the encampment on Michigan’s campus on May 21. Michigan administrators, believing
the tent city became a threat to kids on campus, sent in officers with helmets, shields and forced the protesters to retreat.
While Kaplan is hopeful and excited for her first year on Georgetown’s campus, she is also realistic about what must happen to bring a positive end to these university protests nationwide.
“It’s going to need to come from both sides being willing to have a conversation,” Kaplan said, “And create dialogue without intimidation.”
NW-03. News Coverage in a Series
Ongoing news coverage of a topic, issue or event across up to three stories published separately (i.e., across multiple print issues or multiple days online). May include follow-up coverage of a breaking news event or coverage of a newsworthy issue over a period of time. Stories should progressively provide more detail and explanation of what has been learned since the original story. Submit a PDF of the print pages on which the stories were published or URLs to the stories on an online news site. The URL to the first story published should be submitted into the Entry URL field. URLs for up to two more stories should be submitted into the Additional Information field. Individual stories in the series may be submitted into other categories of this contest.
JUDGING CRITERIA
Proper diction/grammar; use of third person
Expands upon breaking news or previous news coverage when more facts are available or related news occurs
Clarifies the news elements, i.e. timeliness, nearness, impact and prominence
Clarifies through research the background necessary to understand current news
Shows thorough reporting skills; develops an understanding of the issues/problems through interviews with varied and balanced sources
Avoids personal opinion unless properly attributed
Sentences, paragraphs of varied length, written clearly, concisely and vividly
Effective use of facts/quotes gathered predominantly from primary sources. Secondary sources, if used, are cited appropriately.