Title: A History of Student Activism and Protests | BestColleges
Headings: Student Activism in College
Student Activism in College
A History of Campus Protests
Student Protests Throughout History
The Fight for Civil Rights on College Campuses
Students Protest Administrative Policies
The Push for Campus Safety
Fighting Tuition Increases and Rising Costs
Student Activism in 2020 and Beyond

Content: The activists' peaceful protests, such as blocking Wolfe's car during a homecoming parade, ultimately succeeded: Wolfe resigned, and the University of Missouri hired its first chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer. Students Protest Administrative Policies
In the modern era, student activists demanded a voice in institutional decisions. But first, activists had to convince colleges not to treat them like children. Before the 1960s, colleges actively governed students' lives. Under the doctrine of in loco parentis, a Latin phrase meaning "in the place of the parent," colleges acted as parents toward students. This policy might have made sense in the colonial era, when children as young as 12 enrolled at colleges, but in the 19th and 20th centuries, student activists readily attacked the notion that colleges should control their lives. Student activists protested these restrictions on their freedoms, which included curfews, limits on freedom of speech, and "character-building" policies. For example, in the 1860s, Wheaton College suspended a student because he joined a secret society. Alabama State University students were expelled for staging a sit-in at Montgomery County Courthouse in 1960.