As a university, we are not living up to our claims of “One Emory” and being a university that fosters “courageous inquiry.”
The “One Emory” principle implies that we’re all in this together, that all of our voices need to be considered and consulted on key issues. It implies shared governance.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Credit: Kay Hinton
Credit: Kay Hinton
Yet in the face of some of the most pressing and contentious issues we face as a community — namely, expressions of concern over the public safety training center often referred to as “Cop City,” the war in Gaza and Israel’s security — President Gregory L. Fenves unilaterally tightened limits on protests.
Contrary to explicit guidelines, the president failed to consult with the faculty and other members of the Committee on Open Expression when, just before classes began, he inserted clauses banning overnight outdoor camping or encampments on Emory property, building occupations, and protests between midnight and 7 a.m.
There are, to be sure, differences among faculty on these decisions and on issues such as Israel-Palestine. But we as faculty have the right and obligation to be consulted in these decisions. Fenves unilaterally denied us this right. As a result, his decision is lacking in both legitimacy and useful input from those of us who actually work teach and work with students.
Emory’s history of focusing on “courageous inquiry” includes making it a “a place where engaged scholars come together in a strong and vital community to confront the human condition.” But, in addition to science and technology, such inquiry is also supposed to address broader challenges of human experience, including religion, race and differences, and conflict. And it also should encompass challenging ourselves, our own decisions and actions.
Under Fenves, we have not lived up to our claims of “courageous inquiry.”
First, the university has either not produced or not shared reports on lessons learned from its decisions to call out the police in April 2023 and 2024. One of these decisions led to injuries and arrests. It has commissioned a report on the events of April 2024, but the investigation was undertaken by a lawyer and involved minimal consultation with faculty and none, to our knowledge, with faculty or students. Nor has the resulting report been shared with the Emory community.
Also, rather than challenging and engaging protesters, the president has labeled and ignored them.
We do not pretend that navigating these issues is easy. It’s often contentious and messy. But helping to steer the university through these shoals is the role of a president, and Fenves has, as yet, performed poorly in that role. Together, the failures to live up to our goals of “One Emory” and “courageous inquiry” and to the fundamental academic mission of any institution of higher education amount to a dereliction of educational duty.
Rick Doner is the Goodrich C. White Professor emeritus in the Department of Political Science and an adjunct professor in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Pamela Scully is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and African Studies at Emory University. These views their own.
