Pro-Palestinian activists have organized encampments at over 70 college campuses in order to draw attention to Israel’s military assault on the Gaza Strip and to advocate for schools to divest from companies with connections to Israel. The movement has resulted in clashes with police and the arrest of over 2,300 protesters, prompting universities to reconsider their commencement plans. However, some school communities are frustrated with how administrators have handled the campus protests, particularly in response to the situation at Fordham University in New York City.
After pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus, the school called in the New York Police Department to assist and ended up arresting 15 protesters. Fordham President Tania Tetlow described the encampment and protest as different from previous events and noted that many protesters were from outside the school community. However, two faculty members presented evidence that contradicted Tetlow’s claims, including the scale of the encampment and the affiliation of the participants. They argued that the encampment was nonviolent and consisted of students, faculty, and alumni.
University administrators are facing criticism and pushback for their decisions to involve law enforcement in cracking down on the encampments and protests. At Emory University, the Faculty Senate of the Emory College of Arts and Sciences passed a vote of no confidence in President Gregory Fenves following the police arrest of 28 individuals, 20 of whom were Emory community members. The New School’s encampment also led to the arrest of 43 individuals, prompting more than 200 faculty and staff members to convene an emergency meeting and vote no confidence in President Donna Shalala and the board of trustees.
Furthermore, at the University of Texas at Austin, where 57 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested, over 600 members of the university’s teaching staff signed an open letter expressing no confidence in President Jay Hartzell. The Columbia University history department condemned the use of police force against students and called for the restoration of respectful debate and peaceful protest on campus. Students at the University of Southern California and Columbia University have taken action to express disappointment in their administrations’ handling of the protests, with USC students calling for no further retaliatory action against them.
In response to the crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism, students and faculty members are demanding accountability from university administrators. At the University of Southern California, the undergraduate student government expressed disappointment in the administration’s use of force, while students at Columbia University filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to investigate discrimination against Palestinian students and their allies. Organizations like Palestine Legal are also getting involved in supporting efforts to address these issues and hold university administrations accountable for their actions.
