TEXAS CLASH
The president of the University of Texas at Austin, Jay Hartzell, faced a similar backlash from faculty on Friday, two days after he joined with Republican Governor Greg Abbott in calling in police to break up a pro-Palestinian protest.
Dozens of protesters were arrested but charges against most were dropped the next day.
Nearly 200 members of the faculty at the university signed a letter dated April 25, saying they have no confidence in Hartzell after he “needlessly put students, staff and faculty in danger” when hundreds of officers clad in riot gear and on horseback swept away the protests.
Hartzell in a statement said he made the decision on grounds that protest organizers aimed to “severely disrupt” the campus for a long period.
The clash in Texas was one of many that broke out this week between demonstrators and police summoned by university leaders, who say encampments constitute unauthorized protests, jeopardize the safety of students, and at times, subject Jewish students to antisemitism and harassment.
Civil rights groups have condemned the arrests and urged authorities to respect free speech rights. The activists behind the protests say their aim is to pressure schools to divest from companies that contribute to Israeli military actions in Gaza, and blame any hostile behavior on outsiders seeking to hijack the movement.
While Columbia remains the epicentre of the student protest movement, the national spotlight has shifted to new campuses – from the University of Southern California (USC) to Atlanta’s Emory University to Boston’s Emerson College – nearly every day this week. USC this week cancelled its main May 10 graduation ceremony, saying newly required security measures would have placed excessive delays on crowd control.
