This is an abridged version of an open letter circulated to Emory University in November 2023. The letter references a student-led protest in spring 2023 against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, dubbed “Cop City” by its critics. The editors condensed the letter from its original format and updated it with more specific language. You can find the original letter posted here.
Shortly after 1 a.m. on April 25, 2023, Emory administrators called police to terminate a student protest on the Quadrangle. The students were demonstrating against Cop City, and holding a vigil for the activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán (Tortuguita), who had been shot and killed by Georgia state troopers in January 2023. The protest was entirely peaceful, nonviolent, and nondestructive. By 1 a.m., the students had dwindled to a group of 15 to 20, some asleep for the night. They were confronted and threatened with arrest by at least 12 armed officers from both the Emory Police Department and the Atlanta Police Department.
Why did our administrators call the police? We have waited nine months and heard no justification, only questionable conduct complaints: pitching tents on the Quad isn’t permitted, camping on the Quad impedes university operations; the students didn’t tell administrators they were planning to stay overnight […]. None of these complaints identify an actual threat, much less an emergency that might warrant police involvement according to Emory’s Respect for Open Expression Policy. Moreover, the message conveyed is that it is up to administrators to define “acceptable” protest — for example, how long it may last and who must be informed — and that police are there to be deployed when protestors don’t comply. Such assumptions are antithetical to Emory’s commitment to open expression and Atlanta’s tradition of direct nonviolent action.
[…] Our administrators’ decision brought an outsized force of armed officers to campus at night, into contact with students whose views and positionalities made them especially vulnerable. Moreover, Emory’s educational mission has also been harmed. Intentionally or not, administrators have shown students that it is wrong and dangerous to persist in dissent, that Atlanta police are available to enforce obedience on campus and that conflicts can be successfully resolved with a show of brute force. […]
We have watched in alarm as the state of Georgia escalates its criminalization of constitutionally protected protest via RICO and domestic terrorism charges. Do our administrators also condemn this antidemocratic treatment of protestors? If so, this is their opportunity to defend democratic rights on our campus, encourage open dialogue and commit to refraining from calling the police on peaceful and nonviolent protestors in the future.
We call on our administrators to acknowledge the harm their actions have done and begin rebuilding trust.
Signed:
Ruth Allen, PhD, Curator of Greek and Roman Art, Michael C Carlos Museum
Jody Bailey, Head of Scholarly Communications Office and Associate Librarian, Emory Libraries
Emmie Banks, Neuroscience PhD Candidate
Samuel Bartlett, Emory College of Arts and Sciences, 2026
Evan Bazel, Class of 2025
Jeremy Bell, Faculty, Department of Philosophy
William Boose, Emory faculty, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Anthropology
Patricia Brennan, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor, Psychology
Paul Buchholz, Associate Professor, Department or German Studies
Eric Bulakites, Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of French and Italian
Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger, Emerit Professor, Department of Religion
Patricia Cahill, Associate Professor of English
Camille, Emory Undergraduate Student
Mia Carvalho Guimaraes, Alum, MPH, Rollins School of Public Health, 2023
Jhanel Chew, Emory faculty, PhD Student in Environmental Health Sciences at Rollins School of Public Health
Lisa Chung, Doctoral Student, Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health
Makalee Cooper, Ox ‘23, C ‘25
Yaling Covey, ECAS Class of 2024
Leroy Davis, Associate Professor, Emeritus, African American Studies/History
Sarah Delfino, Environmental Science, ECAS, 2023
Jareka Dellenbaugh-Dempsey, Emory student, Graduate Student, English Department
Srija Dutta, Public Health Program Associate, RSPH Alum
Sarah Febres-Cordero, Emory faculty, Assistant Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Jennifer Feldman, Associate Teaching Professor, Spanish and Portuguese
Fiona Ferguson, 26C
Nicholas Fesette, Assistant Professor of Theater, Oxford College
Amir Hussain, Alum, Laney Graduate School, 2022
Noah Jaffe, Emory student, PhD Candidate, Chemistry, LGS 2024, ECAS 2019
Henry Kahn, Emeritus Professor, Family & Preventive Medicine, School of MedicineSchool of Med
Andrew, Kaplan, Graduate Student, Comparative Literature, 2025
Carolyn Keogh, Asst. Teaching Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences
Kim, ECAS, Class of 2024
Nava Klopper, WGS & CPLT, 2025C
Ross Knecht, Associate Professor, English Department
Michael Kramer, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health
Kieran Kristensen, Emory staff, MD PGY-2, Emory School Of Medicine
Daniel LaChance, Associate Professor, History, ECAS
Lee, Class of 2023
Joel Lerner, Emory student, RSPH Environmental Health, 20Ox 22C 24PH
Martin Li, BA Philosophy, NBB, ECAS, 2024
Roxani Eleni Margariti, Associate Professor, MESAS
Stu Marvel, Assistant Professor, Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Hiram Maxim, Professor of German Studies and Linguistics
Noëlle McAfee, Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy
Sara McClintock, Associate Professor of Religion
David Meer, Department of Physics 3rd year graduate student
Sean Meighoo, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature
Judith A. Miller, Associate Professor, Department of History, Emory College
Alex Minovici, Emory student, 23Ox 25C
Andrew Mitchell, Faculty, Philosophy
Simona Muratore, Faculty, French and Italian Department
David Nichols, Emory student, Ph.D. Candidate, Spanish and Portuguese Dept, LGS, 2024
David Nugent, Anthropology Department
Koluchi Odiegwu, Emory college Class of 2024
Natalie Olson, PhD student, GDEH, RSPH
Darby Osborne, ECAS 26
Marjorie Pak, Associate Teaching Professor, Program in Linguistics
Oren Panovka, Emory student
Rebecca Parker, PhD Candidate, Cancer Biology, Laney Graduate School
Snigdha Peddireddy, PhD student; Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences; Rollins School of Public Health; 2026 (expected)
Kimmai Phan, Emory student, Graduate student researcher, BME, Laney Grad School, 2025
Jaanaki Radhakrishnan, Class of 2026
Amanda Rivera, Starbucks Workers United
Candis Rivera, Concerned citizen
Ian Rein, Emory College ’25
Walter Rucker, Faculty, African American Studies
Bee Saracco, class of 2025
Agnes Sastre-Rivera, Graduate Candidate, Comparative Literature, Emory University
Tarangini Saxena, Emory alum, MDP 17 Laney
Madison Schwab, Emory student, PhD Student; Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution; Laney Graduate School; PhD ‘28
Tracy Scott, Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Sociology
Pamela Scully, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of WGGS & African Studies
Maria Franca Sibau, Associate Professor, REALC
Mark Spencer, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Emory University
Susan Tamasi, Teaching Professor, Program in Linguistics, & Alum (94C)
Lisa Thompson, Professor, Nursing
Cameron Thurber, Emory alum G18
Donald N. Tuten, Faculty, Spanish and Portuguese / Linguistics
Frank Voigt, DAAD-Lecturer, Department of German Studies, Emory College
Jaron Wade, Concerned citizen
Peter W. Wakefield, Teaching Professor, Institute for the Liberal Arts, Emory College
John Wegner, ENVS Assistant Teaching Faculty
Kaylin White, Emory student, PhD Student, Epidemiology Department, RSPH
Michelle Wright, Faculty, English
