(NewsNation) — As student protests escalated at Columbia University, with a building overtaken and flags replaced, businessman Kevin O’Leary cautioned that such actions could negatively impact employment chances down the road.
O’Leary, an investor on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” said in a Tuesday interview on “The Hill on NewsNation” that companies do extensive background checks on job applicants, scanning social media and other sources for controversial behavior.
“If I see images of you anywhere burning a flag or fighting with police, I’m not saying you don’t have the right to do that — that’s democracy, that’s free speech,” O’Leary said. “But that file goes, and then I look at the next one. Maybe someone else isn’t burning a flag, isn’t fighting with police and is just as good as you are.”
O’Leary, who teaches at universities, said the incidents create a personal branding issue that could follow students as they try to launch careers.
“Everything you do, everything you post, every image of you that is filmed remains in perpetuity on your file,” he said. “Two or three years from now, when this is all over and you’re asking someone to hire you, that matters.”
O’Leary said he judges job candidates on whether their background checks align with their resumes, not their alma maters. He said he gives equal consideration to Columbia students uninvolved in the protests.
From coast to coast, campus protesters put up tents to protest Israel’s military action in Gaza and demand the school divest from companies they claim “profit from Israeli apartheid.” The number of arrests at campuses nationwide is approaching 1,000. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.