Coming soon to a college near you; show trials of students who are insufficiently enthusiastic about campus protests.

Reports from some students and parents at Columbia University reveal a disturbing element to campus protests; a not too subtle campaign to intimidate students into joining the activists.

New York Post:

Columbia student activists are pestering peers to attend campus protests and walk-outs in solidarity with college students at Missouri and Yale or risk social isolation, students say.

Organizers posted flyers and sent Facebook messages inviting undergraduates to wear black clothing and join two demonstrations last Thursday to support people of color who are “marginalized and threatened.”

But some students worried they would be “ostracized” if they did not participate or dress in sync, one college parent said.

“There’s been a campaign of intimidation, where students are going dorm to dorm, floor to floor and asking students to go back to their dorms and put on black if they’re not wearing black,” the parent said.

“My daughter told me people are uneasy and fearful,” she added. “Her personal politics are left-wing and she shares their sympathies, but she doesn’t like to feel that she can’t wear blue if she wants to wear blue.”

Some students felt caught between their politics and academic responsibilities.

“We support them, but we’re here to learn,” said one senior who declined to give her name. “There’s a divide among students. People who are not willing to walk out are seen as not supporting the movement.”

One freshman said, “Some students were asking if I knew about the protest and why I wasn’t there. It was just my choice. I’m not really the protest type.”

Hundreds of Columbia students gathered at the South Lawn Thursday, and some speakers heckled bystanders who did not participate.

“Look at those guys playing Frisbee — that is the definition of privilege,” said one speaker.

The students stopped playing Frisbee and left the area.

Another student wearing a T-shirt with the words “Kill White Supremacy” called Columbia a “white supremacist institution.”

She led the crowd in a progression of chants including “I love black people,” “I love all black people” and “I love queer black people,” before adding “I love black criminals” and “I love black people who steal.”

“Raise your hand if you’re a little bit uncomfortable,” she said as a smattering of hands went up.

“It’s okay if you’re uncomfortable right now. This university was built on stolen land on the backs of my ancestors — and that is uncomfortable.”

"You will be made to care," is their battle cry. And why not? Egged on by teachers, administrators, and other infantile officials who see the protesters as the vanguard for a new, actitist left, the first step in the revolution is to intimidate those who refuse to be as rabidly enthusiastic about the "cause" as they are. At the start of the Communist revolution in Russia, a few well publiczed mass executions of opponents worked wonders on the populace, making them docile and manageable. I daresay something similar is playing out on campus now - minus the exectutions, of course. But the intimidation factor remains.

Eventually, the activist's demands will be impossible to meet. At that point, the children will throw a tantrum and people are going to get hurt.

Anyone who makes light of this intimidation doesn't recognize the dynamics of revolution or the mindset of the totalitarians who are leading the protests. Insufficently motivated students will be made to care. They will be instructed in the correct way to think, to act. Resisters will be taught a lesson. And independent thought will be eliminated.

Sounds like Utopia to me.