Will US university presidents face consequences for calling police on protests?

World

Published: 2024-04-27 17:38

Last Updated: 2024-05-10 16:33


Will US university presidents face consequences for calling police on protests?
Will US university presidents face consequences for calling police on protests?

It's been approximately a week since student protests swept through prestigious universities in the United States, denouncing Israeli Occupation aggression against Gaza and demanding its cessation.

These protests are ongoing, reflecting the students' steadfast stance.

On Saturday, students reiterated their commitment to the demonstrations, while many faculty members criticized university presidents for calling in police to disperse the protests.

Meanwhile, at Columbia University, negotiations continued with protesters who set up camp in solidarity with Palestinians at New York University. The academic senate made a decision on Friday to form a working group to review the administration's actions after police were summoned, resulting in over 100 arrests.

In a report by the senate's executive committee, representing faculty, the administration was accused of distorting facts and causing harm to the university by calling the police without consulting faculty.

A philosophy professor at the university noted that faculty had lost complete confidence in the administration's leadership.

About 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested on Saturday morning at a Boston university campus, where a sit-in was dispersed, according to Northeastern University.

- No Confidence Votes -

The police interventions, which resulted in hundreds of arrests nationwide, led faculty members at universities in California, Georgia, and Texas to propose or pass votes of no confidence in their leaders, although such votes are largely symbolic and lack the power to remove the officials.

The universities where faculty proposed or passed no-confidence votes in their presidents included Cal Poly Humboldt, the University of Texas at Austin, and Emory University.

The increasing civilian casualties and injuries in Gaza have spurred demonstrators in the United States to pressure educational institutions to sever financial ties with Israeli Occupation and divest from companies involved in the war.

As of Saturday, the number of civilian casualties in Gaza had risen to 34,388, with 77,437 injured.