Columbia University is at the epicenter of the recent wave of campus protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war. President Joe Biden went far enough to publicly condemn the rise of pro-Palestinian protestors occupying campus. Meanwhile, college presidents across the nation are receiving their own serving of intense backlash, many of which are originating from within their own campuses.
As presidents ratchet up their measures to snuff out campus protests, utilizing law enforcement and threats of suspension and arrest, faculty are increasingly becoming more disdainful toward their institutional leadership.
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President Laura Rosenbury – Barnard College (N.Y.)
Barnard College President Laura Rosenbury received a vote of no confidence from faculty after 77% of faculty chose to pass a resolution. No president has received such a vote before at Barnard, Columbia Spectator reports.
President Rosenbury first experienced highly publicized backlash after choosing to suspend 53 students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia. The students in question were also arrested, including the daughter of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). While the university has since retracted its suspensions for most students, faculty have made up their minds. Of the 409 members eligible to vote, 296 voted; 228 “agreed” to the vote of no confidence.
A video last week surfaced on X (formerly Twitter) of faculty contesting Rosenbury’s original decision to suspend student protestors.
NEW: Faculty in revolt!
Barnard faculty marched to President Rosenbury’s office calling for no suspensions for student protestors: pic.twitter.com/G2vAYVhscx
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) April 22, 2024
Pamela Whitten – Indiana University Bloomington
Following the arrests of 56 protestors this past weekend at the hands of the Indiana University Police Department and Indiana State Police, Bloomington Faculty Council President Colin Johnson is calling for IU President Pamela Whitten’s resignation or removal.
In a public letter written Monday, he explains that faculty outrage has boiled over so much that her reputation has become irreconcilable. The frustration mainly concerns the excessive use of force rather than the institution’s “legal process to enforce its legal rights.”
“That physical force was used as a first resort on the very first day of the protest rather than a last resort constitutes an even greater affront to that wisdom,” Johnson’s letter reads.
IU faculty have expressed disapproval of IU’s campus leaders for two weeks now. On April 16, faculty passed no-confidence votes for President Pamela Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav and Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Carrie Docherty. The first two had over a 90% approval rate, WFYI reports.
Gregory Fenves – Emory University (Ga.)
Professors from Emory’s College of Arts and Sciences have approved a measure to organize a vote of no confidence against President Gregory Fenves, and other colleges are now considering doing the same, Atlanta News First reports. This past Monday, professors staged a walkout and ultimately amassed a crowd of over 200 people calling for the four-year president’s removal.
Emory University began catching flack when videos began circulating of Caroline Fohlin, an economics professor, and Noelle McAfee, chair of Emory‘s Philosophy Department, being arrested. Emory’s communications team first stated those protesting were not “members of our community” and described them as outside agitators. However, President Fenves walked back his statement this week.
“Let me be clear: I am devastated that members of our community were caught up in law enforcement activity enforcing the removal of the encampment,” Fenves said in the statement. “The videos of these interactions are deeply distressing.”
The “no-win” game for presidents
Michael Nietzel, president emeritus of Missouri State University, described college leaders’ options in calming campus protests as a “no-win situation” in a recent Forbes article. Campuses that ardently protect the First Amendment risk allowing peaceful campus protests to divulge into something potentially violent or threatening. On the other hand, calling in police to maintain order also poses the risk of impending individuals’ rights to free speech.
“Crack down or step back? Confront students or negotiate with them? Try to preempt disruptions or just tolerate them?” he wrote. “These are the questions many presidents are struggling with as they strive for the best response to an increasingly fractious period of student activism.”
