The Oxford College Student Government Association (OxSGA) held an emergency meeting last night to discuss a student response toward yesterday’s “encampment for Gaza” demonstration and potential steps for addressing the situation. The protest came to an end when law enforcement arrested 20 Emory University community members.
In an email sent to all Oxford students yesterday, OxSGA emphasized the protest’s impact on the campus.
“Oxford students were involved in the protests and subsequent violence that ensued — Oxford’s physical distance from Emory does not mean our students were unaffected by today’s events,” OxSGA wrote.
In an 11:20 p.m. email yesterday, OxSGA sent an anonymous response form for students to communicate their “concerns, thoughts or experiences” related to the Atlanta campus’ protest and subsequent arrests.
During the emergency meeting on Thursday night, Elijah Robuck (26C) presented an open letter to University President Gregory Fenves, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Ravi Bellamkonda, the Board of Trustees and deans condemning the Emory administration’s “use of excessive force and perpetuation of police brutality against students.”
Over 80 Emory student organizations signed the letter, including the Graduate Student Government Association and the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Council, according to Robuck.
He added that College Council opted to not sign the open letter. Instead, College Council released its own statement at 10 p.m. last night acknowledging the “tragedy” that happened and offered resources to support students. Additionally, the council urged Emory to “provide academic leniency for students who had to take exams, present projects, or turn in papers” in the next couple of days.
In an April 26 email to The Emory Wheel, OxSGA President Kenan Bajraktarevic (25Ox) wrote that OxSGA unanimously voted to sign the letter condemning the University’s “excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators.”
OxSGA Chair of Arts and Academics Committee Braden Newsome (25Ox) said that OxSGA will release a statement to Oxford students on Monday condemning the violence toward Emory students, faculty, staff and administration.
“It is incredibly important that we come out and condemn this as soon as possible, as Emory University, as well as put out a statement as OxSGA to Oxford students, not only condemning the violence but addressing this from the Oxford student perspective,” Newsome said.
Former Vice President of Elections and Charters Elizabeth Brubaker (24Ox) said that Oxford’s experience of the protests was “very different” from that of the Atlanta campus.
“We have this isolation effect where we’re watching from a distance, and I think there’s also something to be brought up about the fact that we were notified,” Brubaker said. “It’s also very interesting what the University decides is “One Emory,” what deserves to be notified across campuses.”
However, OxSGA Vice President Kieran Rafferty (25Ox) hopes OxSGA will release a statement in conjunction with SGA.
“Technically we are all ‘One Emory,’ and it does seem a little weird if we just put out a statement just from Oxford,” Rafferty said. “If we all come together, it would be stronger for sure.”
Bajraktarevic plans to speak to the Undergraduate Student Leadership Council today about potentially releasing a joint statement. The council includes representatives from the SGA, College Council, BBA Council, Emory Student Nurses Association and Residence Hall Association.
“I am definitely interested in seeing how the other student leaders would be interested in cooperating for a response to everything that happened today,” Bajraktarevic said.
