The Faculty Senate will vote next Tuesday on whether to support a letter signed by more than 220 faculty members. The letter demands that UB drop charges against pro-Palestinian protesters arrested Wednesday night, review UB police protocols, and launch an investigation into impromptu changes to on-campus picketing and assembly policies.
The resolution to hold a vote on the letter was introduced by geography professor Sara Metcalf during the Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting Tuesday afternoon. It passed with 10 ayes, 2 nays and 2 abstentions.
UB President Satish Tripathi and Provost A. Scott Weber were present at the meeting. Tripathi read a statement on Wednesday’s police action on campus, emphasizing that UB “must ensure the safety and security of [the] entire university.”
Zanaya Hussain, an e-board member for UB’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), spoke in favor of holding the vote. She told senators her experience Wednesday made her feel unsafe on campus.
“As students we learned about injustice, oppression in our classes and then we’re expected to stay silent in the face of it,” Hussain said. “We are expected to comply even when our First Amendment rights are violated right before our eyes, to comply with authority even when you believe them to be unreasonable… I’m not proud to be a student at the University at Buffalo when they don’t even care about me or my friends.”
Mylien Lai is the senior arts editor and can be reached at mylien.lai@ubspectrum.com
Mylien Lai is the senior news editor at The Spectrum. Outside of getting lost in Buffalo, she enjoys practicing the piano and being a bean plant mom. She can be found at @my_my_my_myliennnn on Instagram.
Photo: Courtesy of Tracey Drury
