Urban citizens and a university after a serious campus disturbance

This study looks at 282 urban citizens' attitudes about campus dissent, attitudes about the legitimacy of a campus disturbance, and their satisfaction with a university soon after a serious campus disturbance.A majority of urban citizens were satisfied with the university. Their beliefs about the university were heavily related to their satisfaction. Younger, more educated citizens, as well as those with more university-related experiences and those with more positive attitudes about campus freedom of expression, have more positive attitudes about campus dissent. Most urban citizens did not consider the campus disturbance to be a legitimate form of social protest. Urban citizens with more positive attitudes about campus dissent and those who did not believe that many subversive activities were going on at the university were more apt to view the disturbance as a legitimate form of social protest.