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"You must disband these groups, including the National Lawyer's Guild student group. In addition, you must discipline officers and members of these groups, and

"You must disband these groups, including the National Lawyer's Guild student group. In addition, you must discipline officers and members of these groups, and you must make them ineligible to join any other student group." Sorry, I'll take "holier than thou" institutions over government-mandated "these student groups are acceptable and these are not". "You must ban all masks and have penalties no less than suspension for any violation". Oh yes, look at these ethical high ground ivory tower types...

neaden 2y ago
The mask obsession these people still have is just amazing. So angry at being told to wear a mask during a pandemic that they want to ban anyone else from doing it now. I would expect better behavior from a toddler.
- Fauntleroy 2y ago
  They want to ban it for absolute facial recognition coverage, and pretty much nothing else.
- ben7799 2y ago
  It has nothing to do with the pandemic. The ban on masks is about whether or not protesters are actually students. Masks have been used to conceal identities when taking over buildings or shutting down classes.
- amluto 2y ago
  It’s unclear how much is residual anti-mask sentiment from the pandemic and how much is related to events like this: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68923528 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68923528 One might reasonably interpret events like that as protestors engaged in activity that is not protected by the First Amendment, is criminal and/or violates other student’s civil rights and/or improperly interferes with the activities of others. And one might credibly imagine that some of the protesters knew this and were wearing masks to hide their identities. And one might further credibly argue that, in 2024, these students were not likely to be wearing masks outdoors for health reasons. Of course, the letter to Harvard doesn’t really explain what kind of mask ban is imagined or why it’s appropriate to ban masks when students are merely going about their ordinary business.
  - SauciestGNU 2y ago
    One might argue that masks are necessary because the state is surveiling people and abducting them off the street based on viewpoint. If you're expressing views in public, it would behoove you to do so while obscuring your identity to the extent possible, lest you end up in a Salvadoran death camp for expressing views disfavored by the regime.
    - amluto 2y ago
      I absolutely think it’s valid to want to express one’s viewpoint anonymously. However, I don’t think your argument really covers this particular situation. The events in question predate Trump’s reelection, and a lot of the things done by people, many whom were wearing masks, were approaching (or far beyond, depending your perspective) the line where free speech stops and harassment, vandalism and hate begins. I think that one of the most self-defeating things that some of Trump’s opponents do is to ignore the fact that many of his actions are based on actual problems in the US. In my mind, bad things really were done on college campuses. Awful things really were done in the name of DEI. Cancel culture really was out of control. The US really does have economic deficiencies in the manufacturing sector. None of these excuse most of what Trump has done, but minimizing the real problems that he and his supporters latch onto doesn’t help.
      - wredcoll 2y ago
        > I think that one of the most self-defeating things that some of Trump’s opponents do is to ignore the fact that many of his actions are based on actual problems in the US. In my mind, bad things really were done on college campuses. Awful things really were done in the name of DEI. Cancel culture really was out of control. The US really does have economic deficiencies in the manufacturing sector The problem, as it were, is that most of these "problems" are invented by "news" agencies and then repeated over and over until people believe them. For example, in this conversation, there is literally no fact I could mention, no study I could cite, that would convince you that any one of these things might not actually be a real problem because you didn't use facts and science to develop them in the first place. I do think the answer isn't to play defense to made up problems but talking about reality is always harder and more complicated than emotive sound bites.
janalsncm 2y ago
The mask ban isn’t about covid. The purpose is to facilitate facial recognition. It is analogous to the HK protests a few years ago: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49931598.amp https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49931598.amp

neaden 2y ago

The mask obsession these people still have is just amazing. So angry at being told to wear a mask during a pandemic that they want to ban anyone else from doing it now. I would expect better behavior from a toddler.

Fauntleroy 2y ago
They want to ban it for absolute facial recognition coverage, and pretty much nothing else.
ben7799 2y ago
It has nothing to do with the pandemic. The ban on masks is about whether or not protesters are actually students. Masks have been used to conceal identities when taking over buildings or shutting down classes.
amluto 2y ago
It’s unclear how much is residual anti-mask sentiment from the pandemic and how much is related to events like this: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68923528 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68923528 One might reasonably interpret events like that as protestors engaged in activity that is not protected by the First Amendment, is criminal and/or violates other student’s civil rights and/or improperly interferes with the activities of others. And one might credibly imagine that some of the protesters knew this and were wearing masks to hide their identities. And one might further credibly argue that, in 2024, these students were not likely to be wearing masks outdoors for health reasons. Of course, the letter to Harvard doesn’t really explain what kind of mask ban is imagined or why it’s appropriate to ban masks when students are merely going about their ordinary business.
- SauciestGNU 2y ago
  One might argue that masks are necessary because the state is surveiling people and abducting them off the street based on viewpoint. If you're expressing views in public, it would behoove you to do so while obscuring your identity to the extent possible, lest you end up in a Salvadoran death camp for expressing views disfavored by the regime.
  - amluto 2y ago
    I absolutely think it’s valid to want to express one’s viewpoint anonymously. However, I don’t think your argument really covers this particular situation. The events in question predate Trump’s reelection, and a lot of the things done by people, many whom were wearing masks, were approaching (or far beyond, depending your perspective) the line where free speech stops and harassment, vandalism and hate begins. I think that one of the most self-defeating things that some of Trump’s opponents do is to ignore the fact that many of his actions are based on actual problems in the US. In my mind, bad things really were done on college campuses. Awful things really were done in the name of DEI. Cancel culture really was out of control. The US really does have economic deficiencies in the manufacturing sector. None of these excuse most of what Trump has done, but minimizing the real problems that he and his supporters latch onto doesn’t help.
    - wredcoll 2y ago
      > I think that one of the most self-defeating things that some of Trump’s opponents do is to ignore the fact that many of his actions are based on actual problems in the US. In my mind, bad things really were done on college campuses. Awful things really were done in the name of DEI. Cancel culture really was out of control. The US really does have economic deficiencies in the manufacturing sector The problem, as it were, is that most of these "problems" are invented by "news" agencies and then repeated over and over until people believe them. For example, in this conversation, there is literally no fact I could mention, no study I could cite, that would convince you that any one of these things might not actually be a real problem because you didn't use facts and science to develop them in the first place. I do think the answer isn't to play defense to made up problems but talking about reality is always harder and more complicated than emotive sound bites.

janalsncm 2y ago

The mask ban isn’t about covid. The purpose is to facilitate facial recognition. It is analogous to the HK protests a few years ago: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49931598.amp https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49931598.amp