An outraged letter signed by more than 100 faculty members, staff and graduate students was delivered at noon today to Washington University’s administration demanding it stop suppressing peaceful student protests for Palestine.
“We are writing to express our deep concern at the university’s arbitrary and heavy-handed response to recent student protests against Israel’s ongoing bombardment and starvation of Gaza,” the letter says.
Wash U has responded to recent student protests with police presence, including a Pro-Palestine demonstration on April 13 where 12 activists were issued court summons and three were suspended.
Protesters have specifically called on the university to divest from Boeing, which has been criticized for its weapons program that has developed bombs used in Israel’s ongoing assault on the Palestinian people.
“The students were not violent. They did not destroy property. They simply occupied space,” the letter continues. “It was disruptive, yes, but offered a great teaching moment for WUSTL. The university’s immediate response, with no due process, was to summon WUPD and suspend three students and bar them from campus as if they were a threat.”
The letter went on to point out that the police officers who removed the student protestors were armed.
“At least one student has reported feeling threatened when an officer placed his hand on his gun and looked directly at them,” the letter says. “This allegation should be immediately investigated by the university, for, if true, it is not only an unconscionable way to treat members of our community but could have resulted in the student’s injury or death. The use of armed guards against our students is an unwarranted, and deeply disturbing escalation, and we hope this will not reoccur on future occasions.”
The letter states that the students banned from campus depend on the university’s medical care and food services and that their access to these were stripped away without due process.
“Representatives of the administration have arbitrarily threatened to increase punishments, including threat of expulsion,” the letter says. “On what basis and through what process and procedure are such harmful actions being taken?”
The letter says that the disciplinary actions Wash U is taking against students seems to be unfairly applied. It gives the example of fraternity and sorority members throwing eggs, spitting, jumping on tables and allegedly using racial slurs in the cafeteria a few weeks ago as an example.
“Were these students suspended? No,” the letter says. “But when students publicly express their deep moral concern for the killing of innocent civilians on a scale not seen in years, the university deploys a draconian response.”
In a recent statement issued by Chancellor Andrew Martin, Washington University curiously paired the April 13 protest and the incident involving Greek life saying they “run counter to who we are.”
“Both of these incidents were unacceptable and have caused harm to members of our community and to the university itself,” Martin wrote. “Our commitment to free expression remains unwavering, but as the policy states, activity that disrupts university functions is not permitted and is subject to disciplinary action, including ‘fines, probation, suspension, expulsion, termination of employment, and/or arrest for violations of the law.’”
In their letter, faculty and staff fired back at Martin, saying:
“Even worse, the Chancellor’s latest email conflated the two events suggesting that students taking a principled stand on issues of moral concern are somehow similar to immature students throwing eggs. While both actions indeed violated University rules, the relevant similarity ends there. Assigning equal moral weight and condemnation to a peaceful, conscientious protest, and an obnoxious menacing food fight gravely undermines the administration’s credibility.”
The letter mentions that threats to academic freedom at the university seem to be increasing, and says a number of faculty members have been summoned by administrators on charges that they are somehow showing bias or being antisemitic in the classroom for critiquing Israel and the U.S.
“Statements that Israel is an apartheid state, that it is committing genocide in Gaza, and that it is committing numerous war crimes are well within the mainstream of public political discourse and are fully protected by principles of academic freedom and by the university’s own professed commitment to free speech values,” they say.
The signatories of the letter demand a reversal of student suspensions and call on the university to uphold its own professed positions on free speech and academic freedom. They also linked to a petition calling for Wash U to drop the suspensions of student protestors.
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