College students are starting classes in a precarious spot between new university policies and threatening overtones from the Trump administration regarding protests and activities on campus.

Describing campus life to The Hill, some say the actions of the administration have had a chilling effect on campus, while others are hoping for a calmer academic year than before.

“On one hand, we are still college students. We're happy to be back on campus. But there is this lingering fear of: This is an administration that has really no concern for higher education. Instead, one could say that [it] has a desire to destroy higher education,” said Zaid Youssef, a third-year law student at the University of California, Berkeley.

Since the 2024 pro-Palestinian encampments and President Trump’s crackdown on universities, campuses are facing a variety of different conditions.

Youssef noted how students at Berkeley have seen the Trump administration pause $500 million to the university and their chancellor chastised during a July congressional hearing that also saw one of their professors called an antisemite.

This is coupled with a change in tone from the University of California administrators,........

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