College students are trickling back onto campuses for the fall semester just months after protests exploded across the US over Israel's war in Gaza. University leaders are bracing for more protests and counter-protest this

semester and on some campuses new rules have already taken effect like at

Columbia University where President Manouche

Shefique resigned earlier this month,

a color-coded system is now in place at Columbia

to restrict guest access to campus at various times.

At the University of South Florida, all planned activities that involve signs or

tense or amplified sound now require prior approval.

And at several campuses around the country, encampments have been banned,

including across the University of California school system.

The UC system has also banned using a

mask to hide your identity or blocking walkways and university buildings and to

some these new guidelines are a welcome change.

I appreciate the clarity provided by the administration and President Drakes regarding

how they will support all the students to ensure they can be on campus and express their

whole selves without fear of intimidation and threats,

including Jewish students.

That's Rabbi Adam Naptalin Kelman, the executive director of Berkeley Halel, a Jewish

organization on campus. He spoke with MPR member station

KQED earlier this week. Meanwhile, others in the UC system are concerned about how these

rules will actually be enforced and whether they will impede free speech,

including Benjamin Lynch, a researcher at UCLA and a pro-Palestinian activist.

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