Former Emory University President and Charles Howard Candler Professor of Public Health Claire Sterk is no longer a member of the Atlanta Police Foundation Board of Trustees as of Feb. 7. Her departure follows pressure from an open letter —spearheaded by public health students and professionals — released on Feb. 5 calling for her resignation.
Sterk cited her resignation as a personal decision, but declined to comment further and did not mention if the open letter contributed to her decision to resign. She is no longer listed on the Board of Trustees roster.
However, Professor of Surgery Douglas Murphy, who represents the Emory Clinic, still sits on the Board of Trustees. The letter is currently calling for his resignation.
Murphy did not respond to multiple requests from the Wheel for comment.
In April 2021, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced plans to build an 85 acre, $90-million police training facility called the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, coined “Cop City” by activists. The facility will be located in South River Forest, also called Weelaunee Forest.
In total, private donations comprise 80% of Cop City funding. The Board of Trustees is a “public-private” partnership between large Atlanta-based corporations — including the United Parcel Service, The Home Depot, Wells Fargo & Company and Delta Air Lines — and the Atlanta Police Foundation.
Additionally, University President Greogry Fenves is a member of the Atlanta Committee for Progress, a group of more than 40 Atlanta-based corporate-elite chief executive officers.
The Atlanta Committee for Progress has expressed support for Cop City. In 2021, the Committee released a statement detailing Bottoms’ request for the Committee to “lead a capital campaign to seed the initial private funding for the project,” which they fulfilled.
“President Fenves is a [Atlanta Committee for Progress] board member and is proud to work with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens on the mayor’s priorities for Atlanta,” Assistant Vice President of University Communications and Marketing Laura Diamond wrote in an email to the Wheel.
Following claims of affiliation with Cop City, Diamond denied any University-wide connections with the Atlanta Police Foundation.
“As an institution, Emory does not have any ties to the Atlanta Police Foundation,” Diamond wrote.
Since its conception, plans for Cop City have been met with resistance from members of the Atlanta community. On Jan. 18, 26-year old environmental activist Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán was shot and killed while protesting the construction of Cop City in the Weelaunee Forest. Terán’s death has been called into question by activists, some of whom claim that a lack of bodycam footage and contradicting witness accounts warrant the need for further investigation into the events leading up to Terán’s death.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation responded to these claims in a Jan. 23 statement, stating that footage of the altercation exists. The footage was released on Feb. 8. However, some activists continue to claim that Terán did not fire at the police prior to his death.
Terán’s death has since burgeoned movements of protest across the country. Emory students gathered in solidarity at a vigil hosted in honor of Terán on Jan. 23. On Jan. 21, hundreds of protesters gathered at Underground Atlanta to protest Terán’s death.
Protesters march against the construction of Cop City in Atlanta’s Forests (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
“We will continue to support the rights of our students, faculty and staff to share their opinions on this issue and others while reminding our community that individuals are speaking for themselves and not on behalf of the University,” Diamond wrote.
Diamond added that the University works with law enforcement on a local and state level to ensure and prioritize the safety of the community, and supports the community-wide discussion and engagement about Cop City.
“We encourage our community to engage peacefully and reject and condemn violence in all its forms,” Diamond wrote. “Emory is a place where we discuss and debate the issues that divide us — this is a foundational aspect of our mission to educate.”
Some members of the Emory community are demanding a University-wide response.
Mads Gordon (24C), who signed the open letter, noted that Emory’s large role in the Atlanta community warrants a response on Cop City.
“Emory University and Healthcare has a historically significant sway in Atlanta politics,” Gordon wrote in an email to the Wheel. “Given their respective roles as centers for research and providers within the Atlanta community, it is unacceptable that there has been no official statement(s) or public discussion about the Training Facility and the public health impact it will have.”
Wittika Chaplet (21Ox, 23C), a member of Emory’s Stop Cop City movement, said that the University has not been transparent in their response to allegations of affiliation with the Atlanta Police Foundation. Chaplet hopes Emory will condemn the actions of the Atlanta Police Foundation and the construction of the police training facility.
“Dismissing the responsibility of Emory to take a position on this issue is ridiculous and dismissive and condescending,” Chaplet said.
She added that because Emory is currently the top employer in Atlanta, she believes it is very likely that the construction of Cop City will impact those employed by Emory who live in the surrounding suburban areas. A“There’s an opportunity for Emory to do a lot of good because of this influence,” Chaplet said. “This is an opportunity for it to use its power to stick up for people who are being brutalized, and in the case of Tortuguita, killed, murdered.”
Ayla Khan (she/her, 25C) is from Nashville, Tennessee, majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology, and minoring in political science on a pre-med track. Outside of the Wheel, Khan serves as a Third-Year Legislator for the 68th College Council, and is a committee member for TableTalk. In her free time, you can find her exploring Atlanta with her friends, watching Gilmore Girls, or listening to either Drake or Led Zeppelin.
