Around 30 IU faculty gathered ahead of the graduate commencement ceremony Friday outside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in a silent protest against IU administration.
IU faculty lined the sidewalk on 17th Street between Fee Lane and Walnut Grove Street holding signs that crossed out the phrase “snipers on students” and said “university education is better without riot police.” They passed out sheets of paper rolled up to mimic a diploma held together by a red ribbon. The mock diplomas listed several “achievements” of IU President Pamela Whitten.
The various achievements included “endangering students,” in reference to the arrests of peaceful pro-Palestine student protesters and the placement of a police sniper on top of the roof of the Indiana Memorial Union; “abandoning faculty,” regarding not defending Dr. Caitlin Bernard against attacks from Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita; “censoring diversity of viewpoints,” regarding a new policy change to the use of temporary structures in Dunn Meadow and the suspension of tenured faculty member Professor Abdulkader Sinno; and finally, “no confidence,” in reference to the 93.1% of faculty that voted “no confidence” in Whitten on April 16.
Professor of English Ranu Samantrai, associate professor of English De Witt Douglas Kilgore and English professor Purnima Bose participated in the silent protest.
Samantrai said this is a “pro-student demonstration,” and that they personally always encourage their students to speak out, so they are doing the same.
All three professors said the faculty protesters want Whitten to resign, and they want to send a message to the IU Board of Trustees.
Each of them said they know faculty members who are debating leaving IU as a result of Whitten’s administration and their handling of events on campus this year.
The participants in the silent protest did not chant or use megaphones to respect and honor the students who are graduating. Instead, Italian professor Marco Arnaudo said they wanted to advocate for the protection of the students who are still here.
Arnaudo held a tri-fold poster board which had pictures showing a sniper on the roof of the IMU and protesters getting arrested on April 25 and 27 in Dunn Meadow. A total of 57 protesters were arrested.
The poster board was intended to show those who walked or drove by 17th Street the unnecessary physical and psychological violence endured by students during a stressful time before final exams. Arnaudo said he would not have expected this kind of repression of protests at IU.
“Administration should have the best interest in mind for students,” he said.
Endowed professor for history and gender studies Maria Bucur said the silent protest was a group effort to draw attention to how IU administration militarized campus and treated student protestors at Dunn Meadow.
As Bucur and the other faculty walked up the sidewalk on 17th Street, she strayed away to the parking lot to say hi to one of her students graduating in the graduate commencement.
“The only reason I’m here is because of my students,” Bucur said.
She said she has spent her time at IU thinking about how she can improve as a professor, which is why she stood on the sidewalk and went to observe the protests at Dunn Meadow.
Those who drove by the protest honked in support, including a bus driver driving an IU campus bus.
Mia Hilkowitz contributed to this story.
