The Barnard College chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting academic freedom, published a statement on Wednesday, September 18, condemning the school’s new community behavior guidelines.
The faculty group’s criticism follows an email message from New York City College President Laura Rosenbury last week, in which a non-exhaustive list of permitted and prohibited conduct for members of the Barnard community.
The list of expectations is intended to “provide additional clarity and affirmation of the College’s core values of inclusivity and continuous learning” by providing examples of actions that would affirm or violate the College’s community standards for etiquette, which arise from its official standards. policies and rules. Behavior considered inconsistent with these values included tactics used by student protesters from Barnard and its sister school Columbia University during pro-Palestinian protests last spring. such as placing signage in residence halls, projecting lights onto the exterior of school buildings, erecting “unauthorized tents… with intent to remain” and “unrolling posters, banners or other items from stairwells, balconies, windows or other elevated spaces.”
The guidelines too outlined conduct guidelines for Barnard employees, specifying that “communicating … in support of a geopolitical position or perspective while denigrating or silencing an opposing geopolitical position or perspective” and posting political signs on office doors would be contrary to community values from the university.
“Designed without community input, issued without warning, and as broad as they are vague – these ‘expectations’ create a pretext for a dangerous infringement on free speech and academic freedom,” the Barnard AAUP statement said. “We reject the legitimacy of this policy and condemn any use of it to discipline community members.”
Arguing that the guidelines “accelerate the president’s continued dismantling of the faculty board and review of university policies,” the statement also states that one quoted Vote April in which the 102 members of the chapter unanimously decided “that they had no confidence in Rosenbury’s ability to serve.”
Just a week after the AAUP vote, Barnard faculty passed a vote of no confidence by an overwhelming majority in Rosenbury in a poll conducted by the school’s official body for faculty governance and procedures.
“The Barnard AAUP urges the administration and Board of Directors to immediately rescind this policy and make these community decisions a community matter again,” the missive concluded.
In a statement to Hyperallergicsaid a Barnard spokesperson: “We share the faculty’s commitment to freedom of expression and academic freedom and to ensuring that the college remains a welcoming and inclusive place that promotes student learning and development. We look forward to working with faculty, students and staff to achieve these goals.” Hyperallergic Rosenbury could not reach Rosenbury for comment.
The new guidelines, announced in the second week of the semester, are just one part of what has already been an exciting year for Barnard. Last semester, massive pro-Palestinian student protests involving solidarity camps and building occupations across the street from Columbia were met with mass arrests and academic punishment. On the first day of classes earlier this month, unknown demonstrators baptized the famous statue ‘Alma Mater’ (1903) with red paint.
In an email to HyperallergicAAUP President Todd Wolfson said the organization “strongly supports” the Barnard Chapter’s position.
“Barnard’s release of their ‘Expectations For Community Conduct’ is a blatant violation of generally accepted principles of shared governance,” Wolfson wrote. “Rather than reevaluate the university’s decision-making following last spring’s unanimous vote of no confidence, President Rosenbury has denied faculty a voice in setting campus policy.”
New Yorker cartoonist and Barnard adjunct professor Liana Finck told it Hyperallergic that for a left-wing American Jewish person with family in Israel, “it has been an emotional time, and an inner one as well.” The Israeli army’s continued attacks on Gaza and the occupied West Bank have done just that more than 41,272 Palestinians killed since the Hamas attack on October 7, in which a an estimated 695 Israeli civilians were killed and another 251 taken hostage. Although Finck is not a member of the AAUP chapter, she said she found the group’s recent statement “extremely kind.”
“Even if I don’t completely agree with some statement, I think we all mean very well and that our goal during this time should be to endure the intensity with our social connections intact,” the cartoonist added.
“I think many of us – apart from a few bloodthirsty strongmen who shouldn’t be in power – want the same thing: to live together peacefully and fairly.”
Editor’s note, 9/20/2024, 3:32 PM EDT: This report has been updated with a statement from AAUP President Todd Wolfson.
