Dartmouth faculty votes to censure president over protest response
- Faculty members say president mishandled protests by calling in police
- Nearly 100 protesters were arrested at Dartmouth University
- President said she stands by arrests of protestors
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(NewsNation) —Faculty members of the Arts and Sciences department at Dartmouth College voted to censure the university’s president Monday citing her inappropriate handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
The vote passed with 183 in favor and 163 against the censure of Sian Leah Beilock during a faculty meeting, reported The Dartmouth.
“For the second time this academic year, President Sian Leah Beilock invited the Hanover Police Department to break up a peaceful student protest on Dartmouth College’s campus,” the motion read, resulting in “the arrest of 89 people and their partial ban from the Dartmouth campus,” as well as “harm to students, faculty, staff, and community members.”
Beilock called in police who arrested nearly 100 people including many students and faculty members during a pro-Palestinian protest earlier this month.
At the time, she defended the arrests saying “actions have consequences” in a statement.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu also defended the school and law enforcement’s response, saying, “You can’t be woke about this.”
Beilock, who is the first female president in the private Ivy League university’s history, addressed the faculty before Monday’s vote, the student paper reported.
“I stand here knowing many of you have turned against each other in this divided time,” Beilock said. “For that, I feel profound sadness.”
The decision against Beilock is believed to be the first censure vote against a president of Dartmouth in its 255-year history, reported The New York Times.
Matthew J. Garcia, a professor of history who helped draft the resolution for censure and was one arrested during the protest, said the protesters had taken a vow of peace and that Beilock had an implausible fear of violence, reported the outlet.
Some of the arrested students were of Asian American, Native American and Latino ancestry who identified with Palestinian struggle, he said, according to the outlet.
Despite the poor optics, the censure vote has no practical effect, reported The Times.
NewsNation’s Sean Noone contributed to this story.
