​Dear President Fry and the Temple Board of Trustees,

We write to you as faculty members who are dismayed at the university’s closed-minded and hard-line stance against free and open speech on campus. It was with great distress to hear of the callous treatment of 2 unarmed, non-violent protestors by Temple police at the public meeting of our Board of Trustees. Although the protesters were disruptive and loud, they were not violent and/or causing harm to any persons on campus. Rather, they were exerting their first amendment right to voice their protest. It is incredibly frustrating that at a public meeting, you chose to call the police on our students, rather than listen respectfully to what they had to say. It is equally disturbing that a 3rd student, who was not involved in the protest, was taken from his seat, handcuffed, and brought to the Temple police station with absolutely no explanation for his detainment!

If Temple is truly a space “that fosters an environment that is open to a diversity of thought, opinion and peaceful expression,” then it must constructively help create that space rather than systematically and hostilely shutting it down. These protesters are our students, not our adversaries. We ask that you publicly and personally apologize to these brave students for this unjust treatment, and that you meet with them to discuss their concerns. Further, we ask for your assurance that students whose actions pose no threat to the Temple community will not be treated with such aggression again.

Sincerely,

Concerned Faculty and Staff of Temple University