Demonstrations

In any college campus, there will be demonstrations: some angry (and/or enthusiastic) speaker riling about a crowd about something or another. There's a spot next to the Administration Building where the people gather and blow steam about some cause (usually liberal-leaning, but not always) about something or other. And while they may be certifiably insane and/or evil, they can do that because a) freedom of speech and b) college campuses are known for this type of thing. Better yet, these types of things gather a small group of people that aren't much more popular than the library coffeeshop, with an even smaller amount of people actually into whatever the speaker is foaming at the mouth about (some people just stop and move on). This reduces the overall chance that mob mentality will form, which is also good. Nobody wants a riot. Some of these things are more well-known controversies (immigration, gay rights, etc.) and some of them are just weird (there was a guy wearing a t-shirt that read "Foxhole Atheist", which I think refers to "there are no atheists in foxholes", but I'm not sure (you can never be too sure with some people).

Admittedly, the college I go to is relatively conservative (as far as colleges go, anyway) and as a result, gatherings of this type are smaller. Even circa 2006, I don't think there were tons of anti-Bush stickers stuck around campus, and no one is going to do something outlandish (i.e. strip naked and wear pork blood to protest war), or at least, not a large enough group of people to make it worthwhile.