Dartmouth College’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted Monday to censure college President Sian Leah Beilock for her decision to summon police to remove a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus, calling her action harmful to the community and disruptive to the environment. the educational mission of the university.
The censure motion passed by a vote of 183 to 163, according to Justin Anderson, Dartmouth spokesman.
The close vote illustrated the division on campus over Dr. Beilock’s May 1 decision, made just hours after the encampment was erected on the college green. At the meeting, Dr. Beilock defended her actions, saying she believed there was a reasonable and credible threat of violence.
Monday’s vote would be the first vote of no confidence against a Dartmouth president in its 255-year history.
In a statement, the university stressed that a vote of no confidence had no practical effect. And the chairman of Dartmouth’s board of trustees, Liz Lempres, applauded Dr. Beilock for his “strong leadership” under almost impossible circumstances. “The Board of Trustees unequivocally and unanimously supports Chairman Beilock,” she said in a statement.
Eighty-nine people were arrested, including two teachers, as police moved in this month to clear the camp. A faculty member, Annelise Orleck, labor historian, was thrown to the ground as she tried to get her phone back from a police officer.
Dr. Orleck, who once headed Jewish studies at Dartmouth, said Monday that she was pleased with the vote. “I hope that she and perhaps all those who follow her, and perhaps other campus presidents, will hesitate for a second before bringing down violence against peaceful student protesters.”
Dr. Beilock attended the meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the primary faculty that teaches undergraduates on the New Hampshire campus, and explained her position.
The criticism of him “was scathing,” said Matthew J. Garcia, a history professor. Dr. Garcia helped draft the resolution, which was introduced by Christopher MacEvitt, a religion professor who was also arrested, and seconded by Dr. Orleck.
Dr. Garcia argued that the protesters had taken a vow of peace and that Dr. Beilock’s assertion that she feared violence was implausible. “None of it rang true,” Dr. Garcia said.
He added that some of the arrested students were of Asian-American, Native American and Latino descent and identified with the plight of the Palestinians. “They are the ones who paid the price,” said Dr. Garcia, noting that students were allowed to stay on campus but were in limbo.
Among the faculty members supporting Dr. Beilock was Bruce Sacerdote, professor of economics. “Everyone agreed, even though they thought she called law enforcement too early and could have waited a little longer, everyone agreed that it was a difficult decision,” he said, expressing disappointment with the vote.
In a similar move last week, Columbia University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences pass, by a wider margin, a vote of no confidence in its president, Nemat Shafik, for his handling of the pro-Palestinian protesters there. A vote of no confidence is considered more serious than a vote of no confidence.
And on May 8, the Academic Senate of the University of Southern California vote censor Carol Folt, the school’s president, after the administration canceled a Muslim student’s farewell speech and called police to arrest dozens of demonstrators.
Dr. Beilock, who joined Dartmouth last June, is a cognitive scientist who previously served as president of Barnard College.
