Resisting policing in higher education: wilful White ignorance in the campus safety debate.

The article examines the role of campus policing as a manifestation of the carceral state within U.S. higher education, focusing on how appeals to "safety" often obscure the racialized harms and systemic injustices perpetuated by these forces. It highlights the historical development of campus police at predominantly White institutions (HPWIs), emphasizing their roots in protecting institutional assets and maintaining racial hierarchies, particularly through the surveillance and control of Black students and surrounding communities. Contemporary student activism, especially from Black students and allies, challenges campus policing by exposing its threats to both the physical and psychological safety of marginalized groups, yet institutional leaders frequently respond with what the authors term "wilful White ignorance"—a deliberate epistemic and moral failure to acknowledge or address these harms. The article argues that this wilful ignorance sustains racialized policing practices on campuses and calls on higher education leaders to take responsibility for remedying these injustices by engaging with marginalized epistemic resources and imagining equitable alternatives to current policing models.