Last month, the president of Brandeis University resigned following declining enrollment, mishandling of student protests, and a vote of no confidence by the faculty. We have the same ingredients at Emerson.
Here are the milestones of President Jay Bernhardt’s tenure:
- A reputational black-eye from the disastrous handling of loud but peaceful protests last spring.
- 118 protesters arrested, putting Emerson on the national map for intolerance of student expression and gross overreaction to student protests in an alleyway.
- A vote by the Student Government Association calling for the president to resign.
- The majority of the Faculty Assembly voting to “censure” the president, and 90% demanding more say in the direction of the college.
- A significant drop in enrollment, prompted in part by images of police bundling students into prisoner vans.
- Staff layoffs for the first time in recent memory at Emerson.
- Unilateral rules issued over the summer—with no input from faculty or students—that have effectively silenced political dissent at this communications college.
- Closing of an incredibly inexpensive “Bright Lights” program that had shown politically uncomfortable films and firing of the director responsible for that.
- Creation of an atmosphere of oppression and intolerance that students say has altered the fundamental character of the college they came here for.
- Creation of a top-down authority that some faculty say has created the worst animosities with administration in 21 years.
The record is dismal and is leading to a downward spiral for Emerson: some students will inevitably push back against the gag rules; Bernhardt will try to crack down further and punish suspects; Emerson’s reputation as a liberal and tolerant college will plummet; enrollment will continue to plunge; staff/faculty cutbacks will continue as the college shrinks. We need someone with the competence and ingenuity to pull us out of that spiral—clearly Jay Bernhardt is not that person.
For the good of Emerson, Bernhardt has to take his golden parachute and follow the Brandeis president out the door. It’s time for Jay to go.
Doug Struck (Sr. Journalist in Residence, Journalism), Vinicius Navarro (Associate Professor, VMA), John Gianvito (Professor, VMA), Nigel Gibson (Professor, Marlboro Institute)
Longer form responses to articles or opinion pieces in The Beacon are called Letters To The Editor and if accepted are published under the Beacon’s opinion section. Learn how to submit a letter at berkeleybeacon.com/how-to-send-a-letter-to-the-editor/
We are hearing from the same small group of professors and student Free Palestine mouthpieces over and over. The reality is the majority of the school wants to move on from the discord of last year, and now it’s just these professors creating discord for the purpose of creating discord. I am begging the Beacon to move on from these op-eds that keep dragging the conversation back to a time 99% of the community does not feel like constantly rehashing. Let the community heal, let the president have a chance to lead without being attacked over a political issue that has nothing to do with Emerson College, and stop contributing to the problem by platforming this small group of activists whose entire agenda seems to be only about bringing strife to our community.
How can all four of you, especially Doug Struck who is a journalism professor, be so incredibly dismissive of the fact that students were harassed and blocked at the protests and encampment last spring by calling the protests peaceful. They were not peaceful, they were antisemitic and filled with hate speech. The protests were only peaceful for anyone who was a supporter. If you were someone who did not support the protests, which is the majority of jewish students and staff on campus, you were blocked from entering the alley, told to leave campus, and verbally harassed online. Yes all of those things actually happened and more. (https://berkeleybeacon.com/students-are-scared-to-be-outwardly-jewish-jewish-students-contemplate-transferring-following-reported-antisemitism-on-campus/)
Doug, Vinicius, John, and Nigel, were you also aware that one of the many slogans said at these protests was calling Jay Bernhardt, who is jewish, a pig? Do you support this or is this also “peaceful”.
This article is sadly very misinformed and does not in anyway help to repair the campus community that the administration is actively trying to do by creating spaces for conversations, creating more connections with the SGA, getting input on the new policies from the community, and more.
Like SJP you four are a small minority who are “loud” but do not represent the views of the larger Emerson students/staff and faculty. Because while the majority of the faculty assembly did call for there to be consequences for Bernhardt the majority of the faculty assembly also voted NOT to call for Bernhardt’s resignation.
Emerson’s enrollment went down BECAUSE of the protestors who were NOT peaceful, had hateful rhetoric, broke the law with their encampments, vandalized public spaces, intimidated passersby and did not leave when asked to MULTIPLE times. YES, multiple times. Most students don’t want to deal with these blatant Jihadist Extremests or have their kids brainwashed by infiltrators and uneducated (some) professors who are clearly on the wrong side of history. The rules President Bernhardt put forth (with a team) are to protect ALL students. Your article does not state that this year already the climate at school has been SO much more peaceful than last year and if there is no confidence in anyone it is in the “professors” that wrote this article. If you are not happy leave! STOP pushing the propaganda and your mini clips of a larger picture. Cleary so biased.
I would like to commend my former colleagues for speaking truth to power in these difficult times. Though in retirement these days, I think it prudent to add one additional point of grievance that stands out in memory from Bernhardt’s failed presidency:
Namely, his reluctance to apologize on behalf of the administration for board of trustee chairman Eric Alexander’s mean treatment of an African American student at the town hall for reconciliation. As I recall, Alexander appeared to interpret a Black art student with a can of spray paint as a threat warranting the shouted warning to “Back the fuck up!”
As educators, we must appreciate that our students may struggle to make their points at times of stress, and some may even struggle with issues of mental health. The disparity in power between Chairman Alexander and the young man was immense and abusive.
The inability of Bernhardt to publicly stand up for the young man’s right to speak in a public forum without intimidation by an executive of the College was not only cowardly but unworthy of the office. Most notably when he professes to the campus community that his overwhelming interest is in creating a safe environment for students! – Professor Emeritus
So so glad that there are still faculty and staff at Emerson that are willing to speak the truth and call out the institutions complicity in this genocide. Bernhardt needs to go.
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The complete detachment from reality of these so-called “professors.” If there is one reason for the enrollment decline (and resulting staff layoffs) and “reputational black-eye,” it is the violence, intolerance, and hatred promoted and taught by these Jew haters. Did these
“professors” participate in the pro-Hamas protest in the Alley last week advocating for the murder of Jews? I say it’s time for these professors to go; maybe Harvard or MIT will have them. They’re not welcome here.
Well said! This is not the Emerson anyone signed up for. This school is so fractured and everyone has been so anxious and isolated since Jay arrested those 13 students for protesting outside his inauguration in March. He’s an overgrown child with a fragile ego who makes impulsive decisions and is utterly unfit for leadership. We can’t heal with him here. He needs to go.
OF COURSE, not all professors feel this way and students should NOT infer that these are the sentiments of all faculty.
Good to see some faculty standing up and speaking truth to power.
Maybe…just maybe…they were in a public alley? Jay has absolutely no authority over public city property and sources show according to emails to faculty and an appearance in the alley. He tried to hold the police back and he is the reason that it lasted so long.
How can it be “peaceful but loud” if the chants were a call to violence against the Israeli people (Intifada intifada) or a “Yemen Yemen Make us proud…” or worse! “Al Quassam Make us proud”, a call to violence against innocent civilians (Israeli citizens or foreign mariners)
You all seem to live in this delusion that there are people with you but recent polling across the country shows that Emerson is in the bubble, across all different ethnicities.
Lets mourn the 30 Israeli Palestinians, 6 Druze, and 1100~ Jews killed in October 7th and the thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire in both Gaza and Lebanon…but tooth for tooth, eye for eye…come on…
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