Under school’s current president, emeritus honoree must decline graduation invitation
Re “New at Emerson, already in crisis: President faces heat over how protest ended” (Page A1, May 4): I write as an Emerson College professor emeritus of journalism and history. Having watched the hours-long live-streamed Emerson College town hall, I took an interest in the reporting on the testimony of students, staff, and faculty about protests and policing on campus and the leadership of the school’s new president, Jay Bernhardt.
I found the eyewitnesses genuine and passionate; the campus community should be proud of how it represented itself. An impression from the eyewitness accounts was that, in the matter of the encampment erected in a downtown alley to protest Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, Bernhardt’s actions were in response to concerns over antisemitic statements and public safety issues. Yet, his actions — or inactions — were seen by many to escalate tensions rather than defuse them.
Advertisement
Speakers raised questions about the proportionality of the police response, noting that unarmed campus security had the scene under control. In addition, by relying on city and state police, officials exposed a significant number of staff, faculty, and students of color to rough handling. The exposure was detailed in eyewitness testimony and supported in the demand of the Emerson staff union for an independent and thorough inquiry. In taking a vote of “no confidence,” students reached the conclusion that Bernhardt has shown a failure of presidential leadership that cannot be rehabilitated.
A most telling moment during the assembly was the hostile language of Eric Alexander, chair of the Emerson board. It involved a Black student speaking about the experience of policing in Boston. When the student pulled a can of spray paint out of his backpack, Alexander, seated next to Bernhardt a few rows away, yelled, “Back the [expletive] up,” as the young man approached. The image of an older white man shouting down a Black student is a defining image of the Bernhardt presidency.
Advertisement
I was invited to attend commencement as a retiring professor with 25 years of teaching and research; in fact, I am believed to be the first Black professor emeritus since the founding of Emerson in 1880. I declined with regrets because I fear that Sunday’s scheduled ceremony will be yet another ostensible forum for peaceful protest that is likely to devolve into an extreme security response.
I ask for the understanding of the graduating class. I would be proud to represent Emerson at commencement when an enlightened president is in office.
Roger House
Arlington
Hours before police raid, a passerby stopped to take in an orderly, respectful encampment
I walked through the Emerson College encampment in the public alleyway off of Boylston Street on the evening of April 24 around 6 on my return from work at Tufts Medical Center, hours before the 2 a.m. police raid that followed. Dressed in work clothes, I entered the alley through the Transportation Building mall during a rainstorm. I was met by a smiling young woman who offered me a poncho. I stood around in the alley for about 15 to 30 minutes and observed students milling about, chatting, going in and out of buildings. Across the street, about five pro-Israel demonstrators held flags, chanting and yelling. The demonstrators in the alley stood calmly.
I texted my daughter, who has friends at Emerson, about how impressive those protesters in the encampment were, caring about the suffering of a people so far away.
Advertisement
I know and like the alleyway. I used to go there to a nightclub decades ago. The four or five tents that had been set up gave passersby plenty of room to walk through. I saw no one interfere with any pedestrian. I saw no evidence of Mayor Michelle Wu’s “safety” concerns. There was no good reason for what happened there later.
Dr. Nassir Ghaemi
Cambridge
