Letter to the Editor: The End of an Era

(The following letter was submitted to Discipline News by a faculty member who asked not to be named. In the spirit of community conversation, we run it in its entirety here.) 

Emersonians have a long history of engaging in free expression; it’s part of the Emerson culture. Below are just a sampling of such actions:

• In 1990, the entire full-time faculty walked out of Faculty Institute on the first day of the semester to protest the Board of Trustees’ proposed choice for President—a businessman with no academic experience. The Board withdrew their candidate and named a faculty member whose candidacy had been championed by the faculty union.

• In 2004, the faculty voted “no confidence” in then-President Jackie Leibergott. Faculty walked out of Faculty Institute and held a rally in the Boylston Place  alley.

• In 2005, the faculty were so frustrated with a two-year impasse in contract negotiations, the administration’s attempt to disband the faculty union, and the lack of shared governance in college decisions that they went to the press with their concerns and received letters of support from Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry. Students posted signs in their dorm rooms in support, the faculty showed up outside a Board of Trustees meeting, and a protest march to Boston Common occurred. At commencement, students and faculty wore orange scarves in a show of solidarity against the administration and gave “pink slips” to President Leibergott during commencement activities.

• In 2015, students (primarily students of color) arrived en masse at Faculty Assembly, halted the proceedings, and used the time to tell faculty stories of identity-based discrimination both inside and outside the classroom, imploring the faculty to do better. The annual “Teach-in on Race” was created in response. Two years later, the students took over Assembly again, citing many of the same concerns.

• In 2022, students gathered in the Boylston Place alley to protest and speak out against rising tuition costs.

• In 2023, frustrated by what was seen as delay tactics by high-priced lawyers to extend contract negotiations, faculty union members (along with support from staff and students) gathered in the lobby where the negotiations were happening to sing, chant, and express their frustration with the drawn-out negotiations. Staff union members have also engaged in similar actions when their contract negotiations stalled.

These acts of protest were uncomfortable and sometimes difficult for the institution. But these moments are also an important part of our history as a community and have been instrumental in creating a sense of who we are and what we value. The language of social justice, shared governance, and free expression are not just empty words but are at the core of our institutional values, as cited on our website.

Yet the culture of Emerson College has changed dramatically with new “interim” guidelines and policies curtailing freedom of expression developed over the summer without input from staff, students, or faculty.

Many of the direct-action protests described above would currently be in violation of Emerson’s new protest policies. For any such activities to occur, one would now need to give advance notice and get permission, eliminating the impact of such activities in the first place.

It is, in fact, the end of an era of free expression at Emerson College.