Michigan Faculty Senate overwhelmingly votes to censure regents for 'authoritarian' response to anti-Israel protests
The University of Michigan Faculty Senate has voted 1,487 to 559 to censure the university board of regents in light of the board’s 'authoritarian' response to anti-Israel protests in the spring.
'[T]he Regents have fostered a climate of repression at the university, by authorizing police violence against students,' the motion suggests.
The University of Michigan Faculty Senate voted 1,487 to 559 to censure the university board of regents on Nov. 8 in light of the board’s “authoritarian” response to anti-Israel protests in the spring.
The censure motion accuses the board of inappropriately suppressing free speech on numerous occasions by authorizing unwarranted police action against students and punishing students too severely for their actions during protests.
Faculty senate members also took issue with the regents’ recent adoption of an institutional neutrality policy while “ignoring the University President’s and [Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs’] respective requests that it be reviewed by the Senate Assembly before enactment.”
“[T]he Regents have fostered a climate of repression at the university, by authorizing police violence against students; the use of chemical irritants against students, faculty, and staff at protests; hiring private security which have maintained a presence on campus since the spring; increased surveillance and intimidation of students on and off campus,” the motion reads.
“[T]he Regents have little inclination to engage in shared governance and are increasingly exhibiting authoritarian tendencies antithetical to a public university in a democratic nation,” the document continues.
The faculty senate also condemned the regents for “enlisting Student Life staff in the policing of students; and disciplinary action, campus bans, employment bans, and formal criminal charges to repress student activism and political speech on campus.”
Michigan spokesperson Colleen Mastony said that the regents had acknowledged the motion and planned to consider its recommendations in the near future.
“The regents recognize the importance of all of our faculty and remain committed to working constructively with them,” she remarked in a statement for The University Record. “The regents will carefully consider these resolutions and will continue to welcome collaboration that strengthens our community and advances the mission of the university.”
Anti-Israel protesters at UM staged various demonstrations in the spring, including an encampment that was broken up by police officers after protesters refused to comply with directions from university administrators and law enforcement.
“Following a May 17 inspection by the university fire marshal, who determined that were a fire to occur, a catastrophic loss of life was likely, the fire marshal and Student Life leaders asked camp occupants to remove external camp barriers, refrain from overloading power sources, and stop using open flames,” Michigan President Santa Ono explained. “The protesters refused to comply with these requests. That forced the university to take action and this morning, we removed the encampment.”
Ono cited several other instances of disruptive anti-Israel protests at UM perpetrated by many of the same students, including one incident that saw protesters place fake, bloodied body bags on the lawn of a regent’s private residence that were accompanied by a list of demands, which included calls for divestment from Israel and a ceasefire proclamation.
Campus Reform has reached out to the University of Michigan for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.