SUNY New Paltz Community:
University representatives spoke with campus demonstrators multiple times today and offered amnesty and dialogue in an ongoing process to address their demands, on condition that their encampment be completely and peacefully dismantled by 7 p.m. today. We then extended that offer until 9 p.m. so that negotiations could continue. The demonstrators have neither dispersed nor indicated an intention to do so.
We are now initiating removal of the encampment by police. We implore demonstrators to be cooperative and help law enforcement professionals mitigate risk of injury or arrest. Out of an abundance of caution, we are locking down buildings in the vicinity of the encampment and ask all members of our community, and particularly students in nearby residence halls, to remain indoors and/or stay away from the area until this action concludes.
It is not lost on me that this episode will have deep and lasting impact on this campus community. I’d like to be as clear as possible about how we have worked to avoid this outcome, and why we determined it was necessary to proceed in this way.
Our offers this afternoon and evening were the latest in a series of engagements with the demonstrators that began within an hour of the first tents going up. I personally engaged with the demonstrators within that first hour. From the beginning, our approach has been to reach out to our students in a spirit of support and partnership. We repeatedly expressed hope that we could work together to support the right to free speech while also adhering to campus policies that ensure safety. We repeatedly articulated the potential consequences of the demonstration continuing in defiance of these policies.
The students spoke to us with similar clarity of purpose. They have maintained an unshakeable insistence on four demands, some of which, as we have voiced to them – and as I have noted in recent correspondence to the community – are not within my authority to grant as president of a university within a state system. That said, I remain open to entering dialogue about these demands. The demonstrators have let us know that that is not an acceptable compromise. The demand for immediate action, which I am unable to grant, is, I believe, at the heart of the breakdown in negotiations.
We are a public university campus, and our students have rights to exercise free speech here. These rights are expansive but not unlimited, and as university president I am duty-bound to uphold limits on the time, place and manner of free speech demonstrations without abridging the content of the speech.
This encampment, which transgresses these long-established and clearly articulated limits, is a growing threat to two core responsibilities of our institution: the protection of our academic mission as a degree-granting institution, and the preservation of a safe campus environment for all students, faculty, staff and visitors.
The present encampment has increased in size since its inception. It is displacing other student groups who have equal rights to use that space. It has sparked fear and discomfort for students and parents who have reached out to me directly to voice their concerns. It has attracted participants who are not currently students, faculty or staff of our institution, in part through direct invitations posted on social media by demonstrating groups.
There have been similar encampments at campuses across our nation and region, and many of these are also being removed. As this pattern continues, the encampment here is likely to become a destination for more displaced protestors who have no genuine connection to our institution. The safety of our students and campus community is paramount, and I cannot allow the encampment to remain unchecked.
Among my deepest regrets tonight is that this episode disrupts what had been to date a series of constructive vigils, protests, events and conversations around the international conflict that has defined much of our academic year. I understand that some in our community will hold me personally and solely responsible for tonight’s events. I will have to integrate and accept that, and yet I remain steadfast in my belief that this action is necessary to protect the future of our institution and all its constituents.
Darrell P. Wheeler
President
