Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and Provost C. Cybele Raver will attend Thursday’s Faculty Senate as the administration continues to battle criticism for its response to a sit-in by student protesters last week, including a widely circulated petition signed by dozens of professors. The university also announced it had engaged prominent lawyers Aubrey Harwell Jr., Aubrey Harwell III and Ronald Harris — all Vanderbilt Law School alumni — to review the school’s arrest of Scene reporter Eli Motycka on March 26.Â
Diermeier faces blowback from students, faculty and city leaders for protest crackdown
Hundreds of Vanderbilt undergraduates have publicly criticized Diermeier’s response to a sit-in by student protesters, demanding the administration allow the student government to vote on a Boycott, Divest and Sanctions resolution as a response to Israel's military invasion of Gaza. They are joined by 49 anonymous faculty members and 105 named faculty — including professors across the law school, divinity school and multiple academic departments — in an open letter made public this week. Faculty and students call on Diermeier to repeal the school’s suspensions against students involved in the sit-in and drop criminal charges faced by four students.
The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece by Diermeier titled “Free Speech Is Alive and Well at Vanderbilt University” on Tuesday afternoon defending the school’s response to student protesters. The piece did not mention Motycka’s arrest. Faculty members tell the Scene it was the first time they had heard from the school’s leader in several days. On Wednesday night, dozens of students rallied on and off campus in support of their classmates facing criminal charges and disciplinary measures from the university.
Demonstrations continue over Vandy’s reaction to pro-Palestinian activism as well as student suspensions
Diermeier has gone back and forth with city officials after Metro Councilmembers Zulfat Suara and Rollin Horton sent letters co-signed by several colleagues criticizing the chancellor's response to the March 26 protest. In a letter sent Wednesday, Suara urged Diermeier to allow students to vote on a BDS resolution and to exercise empathy and restraint in determining students’ fate. Â
This week, students have undergone judicial hearings with the school’s Office of Student Accountability. The internal judicial system allows a faculty member to accompany students during proceedings provided that faculty member has no formal legal training, according to individuals familiar with the process. Students currently await the school’s disciplinary response, which may include expulsion.Â
Demonstrators gather April 3 to protest Vanderbilt University's treatment of student activists
“Vanderbilt officials promised us they would meet in good faith to discuss our concerns — they lied,” Rosemary Lieske told the crowd Wednesday evening. Lieske was engaged in fossil fuel divestment activism while a graduate student at Vanderbilt. “The Diermeier administration instead employed facial recognition technology to identify Vanderbilt students who had attended the protests.”Â
Miguel Moravec, former graduate student body president, also spoke about what he describes as harsh retaliation from the Diermeier administration as a student leader of Dores Divest.
At least three students are expected in Davidson County Court for assault charges on April 19.
