Far From the Protests, Some Students Try to Meet in the Middle

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.—The conversation was halting at first, not because the students didn’t have anything to say, but because they were afraid. Later, they would say their political discussion had been clarifying and even cathartic. “I see people saying, like, ‘the students just want to feel heard,’ and it’s like, no, they want to make a difference,” said Conner Phillips, a 20-year-old history major with bleached-blond hair.