Dartmouth faculty censures college president over response to protest

This story by Frances Mize was first published in the Valley News on May 20.

HANOVER — Members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences have voted to censure Dartmouth College President Sian Leah Beilock, publicly rebuking her handling of a pro-Palestinian protest on campus earlier this month.

The resolution passed narrowly — 183 to 163 — by paper ballot at a Monday afternoon faculty meeting.

While a censure is a significant admonishment, it is symbolic and does not come with a call for resignation.

Beilock has been under scrutiny since her administration made the decision to call police to break up a pro-Palestinian demonstration hours after it began on May 1 on the Green. After peaceful protesters pitched a handful of tents, officers in riot gear from a state “special operations unit” marched on the encampment and arrested scores of people, including more than 60 students and five Dartmouth employees.

“For the second time this academic year, President Sian Leah Beilock invited the Hanover Police Department to break up a peaceful student protest on Dartmouth College’s campus,” the motion read, resulting in “the arrest of 89 people and their partial ban from the Dartmouth campus,” as well as “harm to students, faculty, staff, and community members.”

The first time the college brought in police was late October, after two students pitched a tent on the lawn outside Beilock’s office to protest against Dartmouth’s investments in companies with ties to Israel. They were both arrested and are awaiting the resumption of their trial.

A “no-confidence” vote by the faculty would have been a harsher reprimand, as such votes are usually accompanied by a request for a leader to resign. Last week, Dartmouth undergraduate students considered their own no-confidence resolution on Beilock. Like the censure resolution, it also passed by a slim margin — 52% to 48%.

Turnout was similar in both instances, with 60% of eligible students participating in the online vote and about 58% of eligible faculty members voting on Monday.

After Monday’s result, college spokesperson Jana Barnello emailed a statement to the Valley News: “This year has been a tumultuous and difficult one across higher education, and Dartmouth is no exception. The results of these votes reflect the deeply divided feelings across the nation and around the world about the Israel-Hamas war, and, here at home, concerns about some of the language and other issues related to the protests, the involvement of police in addressing protest encampments, and the best ways to keep our community safe. Input from a community as devoted as ours is invaluable and serves to strengthen connection and understanding. We are focused on supporting one another, on continuing to make space for dialogue across difference, and on moving forward together.”

The censure vote was initiated by a petition signed by 107 faculty members, which also requested that Monday’s meeting not occur in executive session, as a faculty-wide meeting held last week was, “given the impact of President Beilock’s conduct on the entire teaching faculty.”

Addressing the crowd, Elizabeth Smith, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, said she has felt “a sense of escalating tension and strain within our community that isn’t like any I have experienced before.”

Professors Christopher MacEvitt and Annelise Orleck –— both arrested on May 1 — moved and seconded, respectively, discussion on the censure vote.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Dartmouth faculty censures college president over response to protest .