Stefan Bradley, author of the new book Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black Student Power in the Late 1960s, was interviewed in today’s edition of Inside Higher Ed.

Q: In summing up the long-term effects of the Columbia protests, you note that today’s college students are much less inclined to engage in protests than were the students of the 1960s. How do you view the present-day role of political activism on campus, and do you see any signs that it is continuing to evolve (for better or worse)?

A: I thought it was fascinating to watch American students organize for the Obama campaign. It was especially interesting because there had been little that had really moved students to organize since the anti-apartheid campaigns of the 1980s. It was wonderful to see students take an interest in an issue that affected them as citizens, not just as students, but it really stood out in contrast to the apathy that plagued students for a generation.