Washington University committee to investigate Boeing protests, administration’s response

By St. Louis Post-Dispatch via My Courier-Tribune

ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Washington University faculty will form a committee to investigate two April protests and their fallout after about 100 people were arrested and several faculty members and students were suspended.

The committee will compile evidence and testimonials about the protests, which were organized to oppose the university’s ties to Boeing Co. and the war in Gaza. It will also examine the university’s “demonstrations and disruptions” policy for improvements.

Washington U. administrators received flack from protesters, especially when an April 27 protest at the university’s Danforth protest ended in mass arrests. Critics argued the protest was peaceful until police moved in, but administrators have pushed back on that narrative.

“We are confident that the independent investigation will validate our version of events,” several suspended university employees said in a joint statement Friday.

Creation of the committee, approved by faculty members by a vote of 745-397, was one of two resolutions brought to all full-time university faculty for a vote.

The other resolution, which failed by three votes, would have urged administrators to rescind suspensions of all students, faculty and staff, and decline to pursue all criminal charges related to the protests.

Arrested protesters have yet to be charged as the police investigation continues. But professors and students are still suspended, with the university continuing to withhold some students’ degrees over a month after graduation.

“I’m not surprised by the split among faculty,” said Brendan Roediger, an attorney representing seven of the nine suspended employees. “My clients are approaching two months of administrative suspension with no process whatsoever and the university needs to follow its own policies, regardless of whether the broader faculty is willing to speak up.”

The committee investigating the protest and response will include at least four areas of focus:

The events of the protests

The information available to university leaders before and during the protests

The decision-making process that led to the university’s response

The history of, and reasoning behind, the university’s present “demonstrations and disruptions policy, and potential improvements to that policy to better suit the educational mission of the university.

Faculty Senate Chair Dennis Barbour said discussions are beginning now about staffing the committee. It will be made up of faculty members, administration, at least two student representatives, and representatives of each of Washington U.’s schools.

“The size needs to be at least seven to meet the provisions of the resolution, but it likely to be larger,” Barbour wrote in an email to the Post-Dispatch.

Within 150 days of its formation, the committee will produce a findings and recommendations report. When asked if the report would be made public, Barbour said, “No discussions have begun about the nature of the report.”

In all, a little over a quarter of Washington University faculty voted on the resolutions. Washington U. has 4,415 faculty members, according to its website, but it’s unclear if that number includes part-time faculty, who were not allowed to vote.

The most votes came from the university’s largest school, the school of medicine, which is not on Washington U.’s Danforth campus, where the protests took place.

Michael Allen, a now-former Washington U. professor who left his position May 30, said the vote totals “were more depressing than the ‘no’ votes.”

“This has repercussions for every faculty member, regardless of their positions on Gaza,” Allen said.

A university spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Friday.