Vol 1, Iss 7: HAVE WE BEEN LYING?

As reported in the previous issue of Discipline News, at February’s Faculty Assembly a majority of those present voted to approve a motion, put forward by Journalism faculty member  Doug Struck, that the administration dismiss “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.” As also reported, just hours before the February Faculty Assembly, Provost Alex Socarides sent a document to all faculty chairs aimed at discrediting each of the examples of disciplinary action Struck had circulated among faculty in the days leading up to the vote. 

Given the gap between the administration’s alleged facts and reality, this issue of DISCIPLINE NEWS is dedicated to providing the community with a detailed understanding of the assertions made. Students, staff, and faculty directly targeted by the administration have provided first-hand accounts of their experiences. FOIA requests also provided further evidence. Below is our summarized account of each incident.

1. Doug Struck: Ever since the day of Jay Bernhardt’s inauguration, when 13 students were arrested for protesting peacefully outside his ceremony, the college administration has been on an unrestrained campaign to discipline students, staff and faculty who raise their voices in protest. It continues to this day.

Admin: This is not true. Twelve Emerson students and one non-student were arrested on 3/22/24 for intentionally violating local laws and refusing the direct order from the police not to block, kick, or bang on the doors of the Majestic Theater, creating a safety hazard that led to their arrest. The college works to actively prevent student arrests while protesting. For example, there were several public protests this academic year, including last Friday, without arrests.

DN Fact Check: During Jay Bernhardt’s investiture ceremony, 13 protestors chose to leave the confines of the “Free Speech Zone” pen the ECPD set up down the street from the Majestic Theater, in order to ensure that their voices would be heard by those leaving the ceremony. No exits were blocked, and there was no safety hazard as claimed. The actual charges against the students were “Disorderly Conduct and Disturbing the Peace.” This requires a public complaint, which was accomplished only when ECPD Officer Robert Bousquet stopped a random passerby and urged them to complain about the protest.

The assertion that the students’ actions violated local laws flies in the face of Articles 16 and 19 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, which protects the right of free speech and assembly. The right to assemble supersedes the right to use a public walkway, and in this instance, no public way was entirely blocked at any point. The statement that there were several public protests this year without arrests is true in fact but false in spirit, since the administration has subjected numerous students and faculty who engaged in protests to disciplinary charges and hearings.

On March 8, Palestinian activist Mahmoud Kahlil was unlawfully abducted by ICE for practicing his legal right to protest in Columbia’s pro-Palestine rallies. On March 4, Donald Trump announced his plans to revoke federal funding for any college campus that “allows illegal protests,” doubling down on his promise to deport international students who protest for Palestinian freedom and liberation, this time including additional threats of arrests and expulsions for students born in the country. Trump’s announcement also calls for no more masks; Emerson officials, having already instituted policies effectively banning students from masking at protests, are simply wondering what took him so long. Perhaps the recent disappearance of Mahmoud Kahlil, a permanent American resident from Syria who likened his unlawful detainment to his friends who were disappeared under the Assad regime, reassures them that students will now be thoroughly intimidated from protesting anew.