NEWS FLASH: Faculty to Vote on Discipline

On Feb. 26 the Emerson Faculty Assembly will be asked to vote on the administration’s disciplinary crackdown on nonviolent free speech.

A motion introduced in the January Faculty Assembly calls for a halt to the Bernhardt Administration’s efforts to punish and silence students, staff, and faculty for their activism. It states: "The Faculty Assembly demands an immediate end to any and all disciplinary action related to protests, demonstrations, leafleting and expressions of opinion, by anyone not directly responsible for bodily violence or substantial property damage. This includes a halt to disciplinary probation against students, campus bans on alumni, supervisor or administrative warnings and letters to staff and faculty, and OEO complaints stemming from such free speech activities. All evidence of above will be removed from the records of students, staff and faculty, and all ongoing proceedings stopped."

Journalism faculty member Doug Struck said the motion was needed because the administration has carried on a quiet campaign to silence critics. According to Struck, more than 30 students have been forced to appear before disciplinary hearings, at least two staff members have been sent disciplinary letters for activism, and at least seven faculty members have been called in to answer questions about their actions.

In many cases, students have been put on probation and told not to talk about it, and faculty and staff are warned that their proceedings must remain confidential.

The motion in the January Faculty Assembly provoked debate. Gregory Payne, an associate professor and chair of the Communication Studies department, complained that the motion was “focused on the past rather than the present and future,” arguing that “some people want to hang on to last spring.”

He also asserted that Struck’s claims were “not factually accurate,” according to the Berkeley Beacon, but he provided no evidence.

A vote on the motion is now set for the February meeting. Only Faculty Assembly members who are present at the Zoom meeting Feb. 26 will be voting on the motion.