In an overwhelming vote Friday afternoon, the faculty senate for Emory University’s College of Arts and Sciences decided to hold a college-wide no-confidence vote in President Gregory Fenves.
The faculty members initially considered a resolution that called for a censure of Fenves, but those in attendance — enough to fill a lecture auditorium and more participating online — decided the vote should be for no confidence.
With at least a couple hundred present, so many hands were thrust into the air in favor of the motion that there was no need to count, said history professor Clifton Crais, a member of the senate who authored the motion.
“I think that there was just a sense of enormous violation of what a college is all about,” he said.
The vote, which will be cast online, could start as soon as this weekend and be complete by mid-week. It will be open to the entire college faculty of about 500 educators.
The resolution also called the protests a “peaceful demonstration” and said Emory and law enforcement caused disruption that “violated multiple college and university policies and is an affront to everything Emory stands for.”
Professor Pamela Scully said the auditorium erupted in cheers when the name of a fellow professor who was arrested, Caroline Fohlin, was mentioned.
Scully witnessed the police action on campus Thursday and called it a “militarized” response.
She said the administration should have attempted to defuse the situation by talking with the protesters, and most faculty at Friday’s meeting appeared to share her sentiments, she said.
“People were clearly, I would say 99%, collectively outraged at the decision of the administration to call police on protesters,” she said.
