Six faculty members at Washington University in St. Louis have been placed on leave pending an investigation over their presence at a pro-Palestinian encampment on Saturday.
Two of those disciplined, Angela Miller, a professor of art history and archaeology, and Megan Green, an adjunct professor in the School of Social Work, spoke to The Chronicle on the record and shared their notification letters. A lecturer spoke on background and shared his letter, but he declined to have his name published out of concern that his contract would not be renewed.
The letters offer a glimpse at the stakes of faculty participation in pro-Palestinian encampments, which have swept the nation over the last two weeks. Professors have been arrested or disciplined at a handful of other colleges, including Emory, New York, and Indiana Universities, with varying levels of engagement in the protests themselves. But the number of professors involved and the severity of the punishment at Washington University stands out.
The three faculty members who spoke with The Chronicle face the same restrictions under their paid administrative leave while the university’s investigations proceed. Unless their deans allow exceptions, the professors are not permitted to work, represent the university, or contact students or colleagues. They also may not enter campus or meet with students off site, and they have lost access to “university systems.”
Green said she has been allowed to finish teaching her spring-semester courses via Zoom. Her dean declined a request for comment from The Chronicle.
Police officers also arrested a professor from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville who visited the Washington University encampment. A video posted on social media by his wife shows the professor, Steve Tamari, struggling with police officers as they bring him to the ground.
A spokeswoman for Washington University did not answer questions about the veracity of the disciplinary letters or the circumstances of the alleged misconduct. She referred The Chronicle to statements the university had made about the encampment, which activists put up to demand that Washington University cut ties with Boeing over its provision of weapons to Israel.
The most recent of the statements, written by the chancellor, Andrew D. Martin, says that at least four university employees and 23 students were arrested on Saturday, out of 100 total arrests.
According to the chancellor’s message, the group of protesters initially set up an encampment in front of a library, but then moved to a park elsewhere on campus. Police made arrests when the protesters refused to disperse, and three officers were injured.
While the statement does not specify whether the employees arrested were faculty or staff, Miller and the lecturer said four of the six known faculty members who were placed on leave were also arrested, on trespassing charges.
Miller and Green said they were not arrested, and there are no mentions of arrests in their notification letters. The lecturer said he was arrested, and his notification letter mentions his being arrested for trespassing.
Professors Deny Allegations Laid Out in Letters
The Washington University faculty members who spoke with The Chronicle said that their involvement with the encampment was minimal or nonexistent, but that they were there in support of the cause.
Miller’s and Green’s letters say they were accused of helping to set up the encampment in the park, and then using their swipe cards to allow “unauthorized persons” into campus buildings.
“These are very concerning allegations that, if true, compromised the safety of the campus community,” both letters state.
Miller and Green denied the accusations. Both said they entered campus buildings to use the bathroom, but that the doors were unlocked. Asked about the denials, a university spokesperson declined to comment on any personnel matters.
Miller said she was on site to observe, having been asked by student protesters to act as a liaison between them and the administration.
“There were quite a few bystanders who were observing the protests, in support but on the sidelines, who were not arrested,” she said. “And I was among them. So why I’m being suspended is, I think, on very shaky grounds. I don’t even know.”
Green, who is president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, a city council-like body, said she was outside of the encampment, except for a “brief moment” when she was asked by students to come in and lock arms.
“But for the most part, I was on the outside,” Green said. “I was really trying to document what was happening and document what the police were doing.”
The lecturer who requested anonymity countered claims in his letter that he had helped organize the encampment. He said he had attended a march before the encampment was set up at the park but never joined the encampment itself. He said he was arrested while filming another professor — Tamari, of Southern Illinois — being forced to the ground by the police.
In a statement, the executive committee of Washington University’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors said that it “defends the right of faculty to fair process, and has not seen that our suspended colleagues’ actions threatened the community in any way that required emergency exception to that process.”
Despite the apparent ban on communicating with colleagues, all three professors said that they were in communication with one another.
“We’re trying to figure out a collective strategy moving forward, both legally and from a PR point of view,” Green said.
Miller said that because she lost access to university systems, she had to have an office administrator fill out documents she would otherwise sign for students going abroad.
“The dean’s office is supposed to be in touch with me about how to conduct university business without university support,” she said. “How they’re going to pull that off, I don’t know.”
As the academic year winds to a close, the lecturer said he wouldn’t be able to hold the final sections of his two courses, one of which was going to be held off campus.
“I expected to be suspended today,” he said on Monday. “But these terms are just absurd.”
