Emerson College faculty convened a last-minute special assembly on Monday, May 5, in response to two recent articles published by The Berkeley Beacon. According to those who requested the meeting, the articles sparked widespread concern across the college community that the faculty needed to address. More than 20% of voting faculty members formally requested the meeting, prompting a focused discussion on administrative decisions and campus climate.

While no official action was taken in the meeting with no motions made, discussion that ensued brought up questions of transparency, shared governance, and accountability.

The first article up for discussion reported the case of two resident assistants who were abruptly fired weeks before the end of the semester, allegedly for their involvement in pro-Palestine protests. The second detailed police body camera footage, which revealed the use of force against student protesters, during the sweep of the pro-Palestinian ‘Popular University Encampment’ last spring. It also showed a police officer claiming to have communicated with President Jay Bernhardt before the incident, stating that they had his support.

Faculty members gathered to discuss these developments and their broader implications for student rights, freedom of expression, and the role of institutional leadership. 

Nelli Sargsyan, an associate professor at Emerson College and the chair of the faculty assembly, explained that the goal of the assembly was to “figure out how we support our students and our institution,” and to uphold “institutional integrity, educational mission, and administrative accountability.”

Sargsyan read several statements made by the faculty who called for the meeting. The comments and identities of initiatory parties remained anonymous due to concerns over potential reprisal if theywere made public.

“Our students deserve the best, including faculty standing up for them and asking about accountability,” one statement read.

In discussing the two articles, the college’s current interim protest policy and subsequent disciplinary actions were of chief concern. Several professors discussed how protests have been common at Emerson in the past and new regulations have changed the culture on campus.

“We’ve never before punished students for protesting because previous to this year, we did not have an official policy against protesting,” said Nancy Lyons, a senior executive in residence at the Marlboro Institute.

“This protest policy is being enforced in a very draconian and heavy-handed way,” said Doug Struck, a senior journalist in residence. “Our students … are being punished for nonviolent protests, and they are being punished in ways that are really disproportionate to what they have done.”

Yasser Munif, an associate professor teaching courses on race, nationalism, political economy, and the Middle East, said he has seen “a clear culture of fear” develop.

“Students have been excluded from any conversation. They’ve been criminalized,” he said.

Discussions of disciplinary actions related to protest policies focused specifically on the firing of two RAs over their alleged involvement in protests — a decision many faculty members strongly opposed during the meeting.

“The school is meeting peaceful protest with extreme consequences,” said Julia Glass, a senior distinguished writer in residence. She read a statement she received from one of the fired RAs: “The administration is normalizing upending lives in reaction to exercising freedom of expression.”

“The school is literally holding housing and access to food over our heads right now,” said Vinicius Navarro, a visual and media arts professor, quoting a statement from an RA who was not fired.

In discussing the firing of the two RAs, several faculty members expressed concern about racial profiling. According to one of the terminated RAs, “biased reporting and racial discrimination” were used in identifying them as a student protester, which resulted in their dismissal.

Two more RAs are facing disciplinary hearings and including the two who have already been fired, three of the four are people of color, both Navarro and Glass attested.

“This is the last thing we want to have, an Emerson that is targeting students of color and faculty of color,” said Munif.

The implementation of the protest policy, along with other administrative decisions, were made without input from Emerson faculty and staff, according to several faculty who spoke at the meeting.

“Policies have been imposed from above without any discussion or participation from faculty, students, or staff, and have been instrumentalized, weaponized against anyone who dares to differ with the administration,” said Munif.

Some did not approve of the timing of the meeting. Gregory Payne, an associate professor and chair of the Department of Communication Studies, emphasized that faculty wishing to have conversations regarding policies should instead look forward, rather than focusing on the past, specifically referencing the arrests last spring.

“We’ve got some big issues, and yet we still seem to be focused a lot on last year,” said Payne, “Some of the people that I know that were involved in last year said we need to move on to the bigger issues.”

Payne specifically objected to calling the meeting at the last minute, and he explained that he felt as though there was a motive behind it.

“I just wish we could get back to respectful civil dialogue, meetings that are not called in the middle of the night with agendas that don’t conform,” said Payne. “If we really want to have a dialogue and discussion, then let’s do it at a time where people have some time to prepare, when we’re not overburdened with grades and everything else, and have something where we can really come together for the common good of Emerson.”

Payne also expressed objections to the anonymity of the meeting’s initiators, stating that there were a “lot of issues with regard to the whole procedure and process,” which led to a heated exchange with Sargsyan. Payne was ultimately muted for being “out of order,” according to Sargsyan.

At the end of the meeting, a standing demand was made by the faculty council to the administration to include faculty on the Policy Committee and revisit the provisional protest policy. The demand was not made on behalf of the entire assembly, as it was not voted on and will stand as a formal, ongoing request for policy change.

“We, as a faculty body, would like to have shared governance as a way of changing policies that they’re impacting our students, our faculty, and our staff,” said Rashin Fahendej, a visual and media arts professor.

Faculty also raised criticism of Bernhardt. Nigel Gibson, a professor for the Marlboro Institute who focuses on African Studies, expressed his disappointment with the administration. He specifically cited unfulfilled promises of transparency and representation within the college’s administration, referencing the president’s advisory council. According to Gibson, the council has not met at all this year, despite previous commitments to include faculty representation.

“We’re just repeating things that we asked before and were promised,” said Gibson. “We need to underscore the fact that we are not happy.”

The assembly invited Bernhardt and a representative from Student Success to attend the meeting, though neither showed due to scheduling conflicts.

“I am unable to attend due to previously scheduled out-of-state meetings with donors, and both the Provost and the Vice President for Student Affairs will be participating in a mandatory run-through of Commencement during this time,” Bernhardt wrote in an email to the assembly.

Bernhardt’s message was not received well by some faculty members, especially given the meeting was held over zoom.

“The fact that President Bernhardt has not even sent a representative to this meeting, which he perfectly well could, shows just how much respect he does not have for our meeting about student welfare,” said Glass.

Time constraints prevented the assembly from making any motions for action during the meeting. The assembly plans to continue discussion on alternative methods of governance.

 “We need to, as faculty, say enough is enough,” said Struck.