The student-organized “Stop Cop City” walkout against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center five months ago lasted for less than 12 hours, but members of the Emory University community are still debating what happened when the Emory Police Department (EPD) called in the Atlanta Police Department (APD), resulting in the protest ending around 1:20 a.m. on April 25.
The Emory College Senate will discuss the protest during today’s meeting, according to College Senate President Bree Ettinger. The group will also discuss during their Oct. 18 meeting what steps they would like Emory College and the University to take.
This comes after Associate Professor of Philosophy Dilek Huseyinzadegan, Associate Professor of Religion Sara McClintock and Associate Professor of Comparative Literature Sean Meighoo penned a letter to Ettinger last month concerning the spring walkout. The letter alleged that the University Senate’s Committee for Open Expression and Senior Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Enku Gelaye violated Emory’s Respect for Open Expression Policy by shutting down the protest after EPD threatened to arrest the students.
McClintock said they were “disheartened” by the University’s response and wrote the letter to spark a discussion among faculty about how, if at all, administration violated the policy and how Emory can rectify its relationship with protestors.
“This is a failure of imagination,” McClintock said. “It was dangerous.”
Ilya Nemenman, who chairs the Committee for Open Expression, will speak at today’s meeting, and Gelaye will attend the October meeting, according to Ettinger.
Gelaye wrote in an email to the Wheel that she discussed the protest with Emory’s open expression chair “in a timely manner” and will “engage in further conversations to clarify these facts.”
“Post-incident review and dialogue is a vital component of our open expression work and we look forward to further participating in this process,” Gelaye wrote. “It is important to be clear about the facts regarding the student protest.”
Gelaye did not comment on specific claims made against her in the letter.
Calling APD, terminating protest
Nemenman, who was not at the protest but was informed by people who were, said the protest was supposed to end at 9 p.m. so some EPD personnel were sent home. When it became clear that the students were going to remain on the Quadrangle late into the night, EPD did not have enough available officers to ensure security and had to call APD for backup, Nemenman said.
Ultimately, EPD told protesters around 1:20 a.m. that the walkout had to be terminated and began threatening arrest, according to Jaanaki Radhakrishnan (26C), an organizer for the April protest.
EPD Chief of Police Cheryl Elliott did not respond to the Wheel’s request for comment, with Assistant Vice President of Communications Laura Diamond instead referring back to Gelaye’s statement. Diamond wrote in an email to the Wheel that students complied and the protest ended “peacefully.”
“Emory respects and supports the rights of our students, faculty and staff to express their opinions on this issue,” Diamond wrote. “While we are steadfast supporters of the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly, we also hold members of our community accountable to our code of conduct, local ordinances and the law while taking steps to ensure their safety.”
Huseyinzadegan, however, said calling APD was a “disproportionate escalation” that was representative of society as a whole, pointing to police using unnecessary violence and threats.
“There was disproportionate harm to the psychic wellbeing of our students,” Huseyinzadegan said.
Meighoo said the debate about the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center is a “momentous occasion” that gives Emory the chance to show their commitment to the community by standing up for those affected, but the administration is failing to take the opportunity.
“It's not very often when a single issue can bring together issues of racial justice, economic justice, environmental justice, and the ‘Stop Cop City’ movement is addressing all of those issues, and yet Emory is on the wrong side,” Meighoo said. “I find that astounding.”
Authority delegation
Faculty allege in the letter that Gelaye delegated her authority to EPD “in the absence of an emergency,” therefore violating section 8.14.7.1 of the open expression policy, which defines emergencies as “imminent serious bodily harm; serious threat; imminent life threatening behavior; reckless disregard for human life; or threat to life, limb, or property.”
Radhakrishnan argued that there was “absolutely no threat” at the protest, which included about 20 students putting up tents and eating together while “protecting” a vigil for Manuel Terán, an environmental activist known as “Tortuguita” whom APD shot 57 times during a protest against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center in January.
Protestors communicated with Associate Director of Operations for Residence Life Courtnay Oddman (23B), as she was serving as a Campus Life open expression observer at the event, according to both Radhakrishnan and McClintock. Open expression observers protect Emory community members’ right to expression while helping them avoid violating the open expression policy, according to Campus Life.
Oddman said during the protest that she could not take responsibility for what would happen to protestors, according to Radhakrishnan. Students responded by asking to speak with administration, but nobody spoke with them, Radhakrishnan said — a decision Meighoo said he finds “egregious.”
Radhakrishnan added that Gelaye’s decision not to engage with protestors and delegate powers to EPD instead was “inappropriate” given that EPD threatened to arrest students, which is supposed to be a “last resort,” according to section 8.14.7.3 of the open expression policy.
McClintock added that although they do not know exactly why administration did not speak with protestors, they are worried administrators may believe that they already know what students want, rendering further conversations useless.
“That kind of mentality from the side of the administration … if that's indeed the case, is very harmful to the institution as a whole because it actually increases the distrust from the student side,” McClintock said. “That's how you spiral into these situations where people can't even tolerate to be in the same room with each other.”
Oddman did not respond to the Wheel’s request for comment, instead forwarding the inquiry to Diamond, who referred the Wheel back to Gelaye’s statement.
Other protest options
Section 8.14.7.2 of the open expression policy states that the Committee for Open Expression and Gelaye should help protestors modify their event to avoid violations, but the letter alleged that the committee and Gelaye failed to “work with students to identify ways to continue the protest.”
Radhakrishnan said that while exploring other protest options was mentioned, there was never a consensus as to where students could go instead of the Quad. At most, Radhakrishnan said, students said they would consider leaving if they could speak to University President Gregory Fenves or Gelaye.
Students gathered in Asbury Circle later in the morning of April 25 to discuss their removal from the Quad. Nemenman attended the event and spoke with some student protestors who he said were supposed to contact him for further discussion but never reached out.
Committee for Open Expression chair consultation
The letter sent to faculty this fall also alleged that Nemenan was not consulted before the protest was shut down and students were threatened with arrest, which section 8.14.7.3 of the open expression policy requires.
Nemenman, who was in Pittsburgh at the time, confirmed that he was not consulted before the protest ended but woke to several missed calls and messages about the event. He expressed that he believes he was “allowed to be asleep” that night, but Radhakrishnan said they found the situation “incredibly irresponsible.”
“If you are saying that you are taking on the responsibility to uphold students’ right to free speech and protest, rights that are in the Constitution, I would hope that that would be treated with a little more weight than it was in this situation,” Radhakrishnan said.
The open expression policy does not detail what to do when the committee chair is unresponsive, leaving it unclear if the policy was actually violated on April 25, Nemenman said. Nemenman hopes to clarify this situation by proposing changes to the policy this year, including having multiple people who can be consulted about a protest instead of only the chair.
“To the extent of the policies, Campus Life tried to do their best regarding to an event that was not anticipated when the policy was written, and people improvised,” Nemenman said.
Termination without reason
Additionally, section 8.14.7.3 of the policy states that forcible termination can be considered to avoid injury, property damage or “significant interference with educational processes.” Faculty alleged in the letter that none of these factors were at play.
However, Diamond noted that students pitched tents on the Quad during the protest, which is “not permitted.”
Radhakrishnan added that she believes the University shut down the protest and has since offered little communication about the events of April 25 because Emory has ties to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, such as Fenves’ seat on the Atlanta Committee for Progress, which provided support for the project in 2021.
“What does it mean for a university that talks 'til they're blue in the face about diversity and equity and inclusion and supporting marginalized students and then goes and supports the militarization of an already-violent police force that has a documented history of harm in Black and brown and low-income communities?” Radhakrishnan said. “Students aren't just coming for the University's money; we're coming for the University's morality.”
Dean of Campus Life statement
Lastly, the letter notes that Gelaye has not published a statement regarding the protest’s termination, which is required under section 8.14.7.3 of the policy. The policy does not clarify how soon Gelaye is expected to release a statement.
Radhakrishnan called Gelaye’s lack of response “incredibly disappointing.”
“It's hurtful to see the University care so little about the trauma that was enacted on students that night,” Radhakrishnan said. “We did not expect this behavior from people whose job it is to care about and protect our wellbeing.”
Huseyinzadegan said they hope Gelaye will respond to the situation to share her side and clear up possible misconceptions.
“I'm willing to listen,” Huseyinzadegan said. “Maybe there's something we don't know, but from all the evidence that we see, this just seems like a disproportionate use of violence.”
Gelaye did not respond when asked if she plans to release a statement.
Next steps
In addition to Nemenman’s goals for revising the open expression policy, a member of the Committee for Open Expression will be joining EPD’s community partnership group, which launched last academic year to improve transparency and communication. Nemenman, who requested that a member of the Committee for Open Expression join the group following the protest, said the member will provide feedback on whether EPD’s protocols infringe on community members’ right to open expression.
Nemenman added that the open expression committee is working with Campus Life to educate students on the procedures, rights and responsibilities under the policy, which he believes are commonly misinterpreted. In reality, Nemenman said, the University is responsible for giving students the chance to express themselves, while students have to ensure that their expression does not endanger others or interfere with other events.
“Famously, you cannot scream 'fire' in a crowded theater, and the same story goes here,” Nemenman said.
McClintock explained that although the experience was scary for students, it is important to remember that their will is not broken. Emory “Stop Cop City” is currently hosting “Radical Rush,” which includes programming such as panels, mutual aid events and organizer trainings, until Sept. 24, according to Radhakrishnan. On Sept. 19, the group led a workshop making signs and t-shirts in support of the “Stop Cop City” movement on the McDonough Field stage.
As the College Senate prepares to discuss the protest at today’s meeting, Radhakrishnan said that they hope Emory will publicly hold themselves accountable by releasing a statement and hosting events such as town halls. Huseyinzadegan added that Emory should reconsider if police should be on campus, or if the Emory community can “be accountable to each other without this carceral institution.”
“This is a test, again, of whether the admin wants to be accountable or transparent on this,” Huseyinzadegan said. “I want to be hopeful. I want to be open to conversation. But we'll have to see. The ball is in the corner of the administration.”
