Throughout our country’s history, student protests from the Civil Rights Movement, to the war in Vietnam, to the South Africa Anti-Apartheid Movement, have changed our domestic foreign policy for the better. This moment in time is no different. History repeats itself, and in like every other social movement, attacking and misconstruing the message of student protestors by those in positions of privilege is a sad but time-honored tradition. If you followed the Civil Rights Movement at the time, MLK was seen as a controversial figure, and his tactics were sometimes unpopular. In fact, a 1961 Gallup poll found that 57 percent of Americans thought that sit-ins at the lunch counters hurt the chances of integration in the south. Right here in Michigan, in 1937, the Flint Sit-Down strikers were led by workers who occupied and demanded changes in their workplace. The 1965 march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, something that is brought to our attention every year, was technically trespassing. There are a lot of people who saw that as an act that was so confrontational at the time, but now those tactics we know forced a conversation that required our country to look itself in the mirror—to make ourselves better by questioning long-held assumptions about our society and our role in the world. And in retrospect, these movements have consistently been on the right side of history.
The students protesting today come from all backgrounds and religions. They see the war in Gaza as a human-rights issue. They’re using their voices to call for a change in the U.S. policy, because over 40,000 innocent Palestinians—largely women and children—have been crushed under the rubble of bombed buildings, or shot in the street as they are seeking refuge. We have seen these images across social media: the starvation, the makeshift camps, the injuries, the destruction, the death, and the mass graves, which has only fueled students’ drive to seek an end to the occupation, war crimes, and genocide—just like they did in the past.
The tactics of student protestors are working now. Just last night we saw an important shift in U.S. policy toward this conflict. I refuse to live in a state where we weaponize our budget to go after students who are peacefully protesting. These demonstrations are overwhelmingly focused on safeguarding human rights and dignity for all, no matter their race, religion, or nationality. Those are American values. I urge my colleagues to focus more of their attention on the tens of thousands of lives that have been lost rather than how students are exercising their First Amendment rights.
Senator Theis offered the following amendment:
1. Amend page 66, following line 7, by inserting:
“ Sec. 275r. (1) A student found to be in violation of the student code of conduct of the postsecondary education institution the student attends may not receive an award under a scholarship program receiving an appropriation under section 236(7), if the violation of the student code of conduct is determined to be a result of the student’s support of a terrorist organization.
(2) By September 30, 2025, any postsecondary education institution that suspended or denied a scholarship award under subsection (1) must provide a report disclosing the number of students who had a scholarship suspended or denied under this section to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on higher education, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the state budget director.
(3) As used in this section, “terrorist organization” means a foreign organization that is designated by the United States secretary of state in accordance with section 219 of the immigration and nationality act, 8 USC 1189, as amended. ”.
The question being on the adoption of the amendment,
Senator Lauwers requested the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered, 1/5 of the members present voting therefor.
The amendment was not adopted, a majority of the members serving not voting therefor, as follows: