In a letter obtained by The Daily, the Northwestern Chapter of the American Association of University Professors’ executive committee condemned University President Michael Schill’s response to the ongoing pro-Palestinian encampment on Deering Meadow.
In particular, the letter takes issue with Schill’s interim Code of Conduct addendum on demonstration policy announced Thursday morning shortly after the encampment began. It calls the policy a “dramatic escalation in repression of speech and the academic environment.”
“We condemn the egregious infractions of norms of academic freedom and shared governance that Northwestern’s administration has recently enacted,” the authors wrote.
The letter was signed by the chapter’s president, Spanish and Portuguese Prof. Jorge Coronado, its vice president, RTVF Prof. Kyle Henry, and its secretary, political science Prof. Jacqueline Stevens. It was sent to the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost and the Board of Trustees on Friday, according to NU-AAUP leadership.
The letter also calls on Schill to consult key stakeholders before making significant alterations to the University’s policies surrounding free speech. It alleges Schill did not consult the Advisory Committee on Free Expression and Institutional Speech which he convened in February or the full Faculty Senate before announcing the policy.
According to Chemistry Prof. Regan Thomson, Faculty Senate president, Schill and University Provost Kathleen Hagerty consulted with the Senate’s executive committee — which includes the current and former president as well as the president-elect — and the chairs of standing committees on the addendum.
Several members of the Board of Trustees and the Advisory Committee on Preventing Antisemitism and Hate — which Schill announced in November — also said they were not consulted before he announced the policy.
The University did not respond to questions about whether or not stakeholders were consulted before the interim addendum was rolled out.
“Now is not the time to suppress debate, discussion, and protest about some of the most pressing and important issues facing us as a university and nation,” the letter reads.
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— ‘Northwestern Liberation Zone’ enters third day with no arrests
