GW Faculty statement on use of police force
GWU President Ellen Granberg and GWU Board of Trustees
Early in the morning on May 8th, 2024, the Metropolitan Police Department disbanded the peaceful, student-led encampment on GWU's campus. They descended upon students while they were sleeping, pepper sprayed our students, arrested over thirty peaceful protestors, and threw away their belongings. We are calling on GWU faculty to express their opposition to the use of police force against our students. Please join us in demanding that GWU administrators protect rather than criminalize our students.
To:
GWU President Ellen Granberg and GWU Board of Trustees
From:
[Your Name]
We, faculty and staff of George Washington University, are horrified by the use of police force against sleeping students at the encampment in University Yard. While we hold many different views about the protest, we are united in rejecting a punitive response to student political expression. Instead of responding to civil disobedience with force, we urge the university instead to protect all students and deal peacefully with protests.
We demand that:
1 - The university drop criminal charges against any students that were arrested.
2 - The university not pursue disciplinary action against students for nonviolent acts of civil disobedience.
3 - The faculty be substantively involved in decisions about how to respond to student protest, in line with the principles of shared governance.