Emory University Faculty Lashes Out at ‘Thuggish’ School President Over Protest Policy

Emory University’s Faculty Senate is speaking out against the Atlanta school’s president for a new policy that curbs the potential for protest, with one faculty leader saying the move was “thuggish.”The policy, which prohibits tents being erected on campus, protests after midnight, and the “occupations and takeovers” of school buildings at the private university, was announced last week by Emory’s president, Gregory Fenves. His critics within Emory’s faculty say he made the decision without adhering to the school’s shared governance policy, according to the Guardian. The pushback comes four months after Emory drew national attention for 28 arrests during a pro-Palestinian protest on its campus.A history professor and president-elect of Emory’s faculty senate, Clifton Crais, referred to Mr. Fenves’s administration as “thuggish” for the new policy “despite everything that happened last year.”Neither Mr. Fenves nor Emory officials responded immediately to requests for comment.The president of Emory University, Gregory Fenves. Rick Kern/Getty Images for Kendra ScottMr. Crais referenced how Mr. Fenves called in the Atlanta police and Georgia state patrol within hours after protesters set up a camp during the April 25 protest. Police used Tasers on some of the protesters.Emory faculty members were among protesters who were arrested including an English and indigenous studies professor, Emil’ Keme, and the philosophy department chairwoman, Noelle McAfee, who were charged with disorderly conduct. An economics professor, Caroline Fohlin, was charged with simple battery.In the wake of the October 7 attack on Israel, an assistant professor at Emory School of Medicine, Dr. Abeer AbouYabis was fired by university officials after posting on social media that she wished “They got walls,” but “we got gliders,” adding: “Glory to all resistance fighters.” The posting was in reference to Hamas paragliders ambushing an Israeli music festival.“Palestine is our demand / No peace on stolen land / Not another nickel not another dollar / We will pay For Israel slaughter / Not another nickel not another dime / We will pay for Israel crimes,” Dr. AbouYabis also wrote.A Georgia State Patrol officer detains a protester on the campus of Emory University during a pro-Palestinian demonstration Thursday, April 25, 2024, at Atlanta. AP Photo/Mike StewartMr. Crais also said that the mood on campus during the first week of the new academic year “was not a good scene” and that some faculty members are looking for work elsewhere. Other staffers who were arrested at last spring’s protests recently learned that Emory has refused to recommend to local prosecutors that misdemeanor charges be dropped for those detained.Mr. Fenves announced last Tuesday that the new rules are intended to “improve how we keep our community safe.” The next day, he was met with opposition from faculty senate members who urged him to delay implementation until they could hold a meeting and issue recommendations. They allege that Mr. Fenves declined to do so.“If he understood shared governance, he wouldn’t be doing this. He doesn’t care about the legitimacy of his leadership,” the chairwoman of the school’s philosophy department, Noëlle McAfee, said of the new policy. She is also the president-elect of the University Senate, a separate body from the Faculty Senate.“To what problem,” Ms. McAfee asked, are these rules “a solution?”

Emory University Faculty Lashes Out at ‘Thuggish’ School President Over Protest Policy

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