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Emory University faculty express ‘No Confidence’ in president after protest clash

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Updated  May 3, 2024 5:04pm EDT
Emory University
FOX 5 Atlanta

Police, protesters clash at Emory University

Demonstrators at Emory University have set up tents and spoke out against the Hamas Gaza war Thursday morning, but law enforcement took action when the protesters, who Emory officials say are not a part of their community, would not leave the campus.

ATLANTA - Emory University's faculty members have voted in favor of a "no confidence" motion about how President Gregory Fenves is running the university following a violent clash between pro-Palestine protesters and police last week. 

 The Faculty Senate for Emory College of Arts and Sciences voted 358-119 in favor of the "Motion of No Confidence and Demand for Redress." 

PRO-PALESTINE PROTEST ERUPTS AT GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY 

The results of the non-binding motion come after a week of peaceful protests on the campus.  

It was sparked days after police arrested dozens of people, including 20 Emory students and staff members, following a pro-Palestine protest in the school's quadrangle. 

Emory officials said the protesters who had set up an encampment were trespassing on private property and refused to leave, leading the school to ask the Atlanta Police Department and Georgia State Patrol for assistance. 

EMORY UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT 'DEVASTATED' BY ARRESTS OF STUDENTS, STAFF ON CAMPUS   

The officers used Tasers and pepper balls to bring the crowd under control. Several people were placed in handcuffs and loaded into vans. 

Video circulated widely on social media shows two women who identified themselves as professors being detained, with one of them slammed to the ground by one officer as a second officer then pushes her chest and face onto a concrete sidewalk.  

Originally, the school claimed that the group were activists who were not connected with Emory, with a spokesperson claiming that the protesters were "attempting to disrupt our university as our students finish classes and prepare for finals." Fenves backtracked from that claim on Monday, saying it "was not fully accurate." 

Emory pro-Palestine, pro-Israeli counter protests

Some people protesting at Emory University are demanding that the school divest from Israel. They want a ceasefire in the Middle East. Those activists were met with a few pro-Israeli protesters who say the war is justified.

Since the clash with law enforcement, protests on the campus have remained mostly calm with only one run-in with a counter protester earlier this week. 

President Fenves did not immediately respond to the vote. 

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced it has opened an investigation into Emory University over allegations of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian activity at the college.