After the re-eruption of conflict in the Gaza Strip during winter break, students convened last week to voice their support of the people living in affected regions, as well as to show their dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.
What was particularly gratifying, however, was that there was not just one protest. There were two.
One group of students, in support of the rights of the state of Israel, stood in front of College Hall. At the same time, another group marched silently down Locust Walk in support of the Palestinians.
While their aims were at direct odds with each other, the groups' peaceful acceptance of the other's presence is a promising sign of things to come.
In debates as complex, passionate and personal as the conflict in the Middle East, a key step is recognizing the views of the other side.
The students who participated in last Thursday's march and rally should be commended for their respectful restraint as well as their refusal to allow the coexisting events to denigrate into confrontation. It isn't an easy thing to do.
Universities should be a place for open discussion and reasoned debate among intellectuals, but all too frequently these ideals are exchanged for ideologies as when emotions run high.
Last week was a welcome show of maturity and thoughtfulness by all students involved.
It's impossible for a newspaper covering a college campus to take sides on a foreign-policy issue. But for those students who did choose to take a stand, we commend the way in which it occurred.
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