Rutgers University president Jonathan Holloway told the state school’s Board of Governors Monday that he remained confident in his handling of the peaceful end of the encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters on campus last week.
The protesters disrupted 28 finals Thursday for about 1,000 students. After the university agreed to some of their demands, they removed the more than 60 tents they’d pitched on Voorhees Mall last Monday night.
The university did not agree with protesters’ demands to divest its investments from companies doing business in Israel, a move Holloway opposes, or to sever its ties with Tel Aviv University, he said. But it did agree to creating a cultural center, staff trainings, and additional course offerings, among other items.
Saying he had received “thousands of emails” from people expressing frustration or dismay with him, he said the school’s decisions to have a dialogue with the protesters and address some of their concerns maintained a safe environment, protected students, and ensured the broader community’s ability to take finals and complete the semester.
“The result of our actions was a peaceful return to the normal course of business,” he said.
Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in October, American universities have been trying to balance student free speech rights with the smooth operation of campuses at the end of the semester, walking a fine and fraught line between accusations of antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Violence has broken out on other campuses, as police were called in to break up protests at Columbia University, UCLA, and the University of Southern California. On Monday Columbia canceled its main commencement ceremony, according to The New York Times, which has counted more than 2,500 arrests on campus since mid April. At Princeton University, pro-Palestinian protesters are continuing their hunger strike.
Holloway had called for civil discourse on campus at the beginning of the semester, but said he was disappointed by what occurred. He cited an arrest in the vandalism of the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University, and an arrest of two Rutgers students in the targeting of a Jewish student in Demarest Hall.
“Some of the statements that I have heard are disgraceful and have no place at a university,” he said. “Collectively, they represent a gaping wound in our community, a wound that has the power to infect and cause permanent damage.” But he said the best way to address such damage is through civil discussion and debate.
“We have work to do at Rutgers,” he said. “The healing will take time, but I am committed to it.” He said Chancellor Francine Conway of the New Brunswick campus has already begun work with the Advisory Council for Jewish Life to address what Holloway called “gaps” in the experiences of Jewish students, faculty and staff on campus.
Rutgers is facing two separate federal investigations of campus antisemitism, one by the Department of Education, one by Congress, and charges of Islamophobia.
On Friday, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, R-Union, said the students had been trespassing and “Under no circumstance in this state should we negotiate with lawbreakers.” On Sunday, he called for a legislative hearing to review the university’s decision to “accept the demands of protesters,” as the agreement requires the spending of tax dollars.
Bramnick said he would submit a legislative bill that would prevent the payments, and would put in a resolution to reject the university’s decisions that brought about the end of the encampment. He was one of several Republican state lawmakers to question the university’s handling of the encampment.
Irene Mulvey, president of the American Association of University Professors, has spoken out against using police to remove protesters.
“The way forward is through education, dialogue, communication, talking with the students, engaging students, letting them have their voices heard,” she told Politico. “The repressive, violent, militarized crackdown on speech, which was largely peaceful … was absolutely the wrong response on a college campus.”
Gov. Phil Murphy has declined to comment on how the encampment ended.
NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.
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Tina Kelley may be reached at tkelley@njadvancemedia.com.
