What’s New
Some faculty members are facing punishments as colleges and police departments crack down on student encampments against the war in Gaza, which critics say has a chilling effect on academic freedom and freedom of speech.
Some of those arrested or disciplined were participating in the protests, which have called on colleges to divest from holdings in Israel and speak out on the killings of Palestinian civilians. At New York University, for example, several professors were arrested after encircling an encampment to try to shield student activists from police officers’ involvement. Other faculty members were just stopping by to observe.
The Details
At Indiana University at Bloomington, professors who were arrested for criminal trespassing alongside students at an encampment on Thursday have been banned from campus for one year. Thirty-four protesters, including some students and faculty members, were arrested on Thursday.
“We encourage affected faculty and students to engage in the appeals process by contacting IUPD,” an Indiana spokesman said in an email. “Trespass ban notices will be suspended during the appeals process in nearly all cases. This will allow these students and faculty to complete the semester.”
At Emory University, in Georgia, protesters were met with tear gas, zip ties, and stun guns on Thursday as police officers tried to clear an encampment and make arrests.
Noëlle McAfee, chair of Emory’s philosophy department and the incoming chair of Emory’s Faculty Senate, was one of those detained. A video posted on X shows her being taken away by Atlanta police officers and asking someone else to tell her department that she has been arrested. Another video shows Caroline Fohlin, a professor of economics, being forced to the ground and handcuffed. Local court records show that she was charged with battery against a police officer.
An Emory spokeswoman referred The Chronicle to earlier messages from university leaders.
Meanwhile, according to news reports, the University of Florida warned its staff on Friday that any employee who participates in a “prohibitive activity” at a protest — including littering, camping, or amplifying sound — will be fired. The university did not respond to a request for comment.
The Backdrop
Following the lead of students at Columbia University, pro-Palestinian protesters have set up encampments or held sit-ins at more than 50 public and private colleges this week. Seeking to quell unrest and concerned that the demonstrations can promote antisemitic speech, some colleges have called in law enforcement to clear the tents and arrest participants for alleged trespassing. (Not all protests have resulted in police being called or arrests being made.)
Campus Activism
Encampments and sit-ins proliferated across the country in April, May, and June. Our map has been updated to include recent encampments at Wayne State University, the University of California at Santa Cruz, and a handful of other institutions.
While private colleges are not subject to the First Amendment in the same way as public colleges, and thus have greater latitude to crack down on disruptions, public-college leaders have counted on time, place, and manner restrictions on speech to clear demonstrations.
Zach Greenberg, senior program officer for campus-rights advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said that professors at public colleges “have the right to speak as private citizens in matters of public concern.”
“Protesting this conflict would fall squarely within that,” Greenberg said. FIRE has criticized colleges that have called police to sweep encampments and arrest protesters.
The Stakes
Benjamin Robinson, former president of IU Bloomington’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, was one of two professors arrested and banned from campus for a year.
Robinson shared with The Chronicle the notice he received from the university. (According to Robinson and the Indiana Daily Student, a third arrested professor received an incorrect trespass warning, saying that she was banned from campus from April 25, 2024, to April 25, 2024.)
Robinson, an associate professor of Germanic studies, said he plans to appeal the decision.
Upon being released from jail Thursday night, Robinson was greeted by a group of faculty members and students who asked if he wanted a ride home. No, he said; he had to get his bike from campus. They told him to read his slip, which confirmed that he would not be able to get his bike back that night.
“I have a Ph.D. student who just finished,” Robinson said. “And I won’t be able to hood her unless the ban is lifted.”
