An editorial is always accompanied by a “should” statement advocating for change, whether it be small or sweeping. Last year, I wrote an editorial to the class of 2024 where I argued that as incoming college students, they have a constitutional right to protest against what United Nations Special Rapporteur and international law authority Francesca Albanese has found to be a “genocide” in Israeli-occupied Gaza. 

But this year, I cannot confidently tell my classmates what to do upon starting college because of the precariousness of free speech in this country. Right now, all I have is questions rather than answers. 

How can former Columbia University international student Mahmoud Khalil and current Tufts University international student Rümeysa Öztürk, both of legal status, be seized by federal agents and subjected to inhumane detention for speaking out against the suffering of Palestinians? How can U.S. born students face disciplinary action for lawful protest? One thing has become clear: university and college students, regardless of their citizenship status, have conditional speech rights. 

Here is the part in my editorial where I would normally offer a solution. And while I do not have a single definitive answer for my peers, I can share some advice I have amassed. The first comes from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which counsels college students to ¨Know your rights, insist they are respected, and be aware that you may be better educated on those rights than campus administrators or police.” For those attending private colleges or universities in the fall, this may mean seeking out ¨student handbooks or other policy documents.¨ The second piece of advice comes from my father, who was involved in various campus demonstrations during his time at UCLA. Learning from the example of other U.S. and global movements for change proved to be the best reference. Finally, it is okay to not have all the answers or know how to make our voices heard. For many of us, college will be the place where we figure that out and become responsible citizens of the world.