Three tenured professors have filed a lawsuit against Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, over its response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations in 2024, capping a turbulent spring semester. The civil complaint alleges wrongful arrests and prosecution after the university called police to break up a protest encampment less than an hour after it began.
Allegations of Authoritarian Turn
Noëlle McAfee, chair of the philosophy department and one of the plaintiffs, described the events as part of a broader trend. She stated, “What is happening mostly at public universities is creeping into private ones… a very dark, authoritarian turn happening around the country.” The lawsuit claims the school violated its own open expression policy and that the administration called Atlanta police and state troopers onto campus, leading to a violent crackdown.
Broader Campus Unrest
In addition to the protest-related lawsuit, faculty and students have demanded the removal of Flock surveillance cameras on campus. Critics, including the DeFlock Emory Coalition, have gathered over a thousand signatures against the license plate reader cameras, citing concerns about transparency and potential data sharing with federal agencies like ICE. The coalition published an editorial warning of mass mobilization if their demands are ignored.
Separately, Black law school students protested the university’s response to racist social media posts and emails from a student named Milano Wayne, who was expelled on 23 April after months of containing racial slurs and threats. Kylie Doyle, past president of the Student Bar Association, contrasted the swift police response to the 2024 protest with the delayed action against Wayne, saying, “When students and faculty protested, they were immediately arrested and shot with rubber bullets. But when a student talks about Black people this way, it takes months to respond.”
University’s Response
Laura Diamond, Emory’s spokesperson, declined to answer specific questions about apologies or concerns about being targeted by the Trump administration. Instead, she issued statements defending the university’s actions, calling the lawsuit “without merit” and asserting that Emory “acts appropriately and responsibly to keep our community safe.” Another statement condemned the hateful language used by Wayne, and a third said the school is reviewing data sharing from Flock cameras.
Impact on Campus Climate
Plaintiff Emil’ Keme, an Indigenous scholar, noted that the crackdown contradicted the university’s stated principles of dialogue and knowledge. He said, “Students are afraid to protest now. It’s a bleak climate.” McAfee added that students now weigh the risk of arrest against their desire to demonstrate, with one student telling her, “I don’t want to go to jail – I want to go to med school.”
Stefano Harvey, a professor in Germany who studies US higher education, argued that universities under the Trump administration have been emboldened to act more like corporations. “It’s capitalism trying to get universities in order… selling study, learning and community as advertisements. But then, in each of these cases, people have to be disabused of these ideas. It’s a very sobering moment.”
