Purdue faculty show support for on-campus protestors

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Following a day of protest by pro-Palestinian student demonstrators in an encampment outside of Purdue University’s Agricultural Administration building, some faculty and staff members voiced support for the protestors.

Around 20 members from the newly formed Purdue Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine showed support for the protestors, who were informed by Purdue University administration Thursday night that students could be suspended if they stayed on the lawn overnight.

“Associate Dean of Students Jeff (Stefancic) threatened to suspend the club and its members for camping on campus. We argued that the official’s definition of camping was too broad and intended to intimidate the club,” said Johnny Hazboun, president of Students for Justice in Palestine at Purdue.

Members from the Students for Justice in Palestine and Purdue's Young Democratic Socialists of America wanted university officials to define “camping" − whether it was the act of staying on campus with a tent, sleeping on campus property or staying on campus overnight whether awake or not, Hazboun said.

Hazboun said that Stefancic could not provide students with a definition and ultimately asked them to leave the encampment by 11 p.m. Thursday, which the protestors did.

“It was a very clear and obvious threat. We argued with them for an hour and their basis is that camping is not allowed on campus," Hazboun said.

When the Journal & Courier asked Stefancic for comment, he referred a reporter to university communications director Tim Doty.

A Purdue news release from 2008 indicates that camping is not allowed without prior approval, but doesn't provide a definition for the term "camping."

Hazboun said his organization had reserved the lawn for a 24-hour period, but noted he was told by Purdue officials that reservations only apply on campus between 7 a.m. to 11 p.m..

The following morning, when students moved their encampment to Purdue’s Memorial Mall in hopes of having a more visible spot on campus, faculty and staff told students that they would defend them if Purdue University administration attempted to suspend or arrest students for protesting.

“You should know from this day forward, that if the administration calls in violent, armed groups to break up a non-violent protest for peace, they will have to go through us first,” said Tithi Bhattacharya, an associate professor in Purdue University’s History Department.

“We will ring our arms around you, and we will court arrest, if need be, in order to protect your truth. Stay strong and this is truly the giant leap forward," Bhattacharya said.

Some faculty members also took a moment to express their frustration with Purdue University if it were to call in the Purdue University Police Department to arrest students for protesting. Purdue University prides itself on its commitment to the Chicago principles, the idea that intellectual debate may not be suppressed because the ideas put forth are thought by some or even by most members of the University community to be offensive, unwise, immoral or wrong-headed.

“Freedom of inquiry is at the core of the academic enterprise; knowledge advances only when ideas are free to collide and compete,” former Purdue President Mitch Daniels said in 2022 when defining what the Chicago principles meant for Purdue University.

“Free speech and tolerance are equally central to responsible citizenship and self-governance. That’s why we insist on these principles as fundamental in the Purdue experience.”

The prospect of the school suspending students frustrated some of the faculty members.

“Here on campus, (students) have been told that their voices are important, that they should be asking these questions (and) that they should be striving for something better. And yet over the last 24 hours, these students will see that voicing your opinions on these questions in the way you all have done is not OK in the eyes of the administration,” Muiris MacGiollabhuí, a clinical assistant professor in the Purdue University Honors College.

“(They’ve been) threatening arrest, suspension, just for saying 'no,' (for) sitting down and saying no to a genocide. I’m here because I want to speak on behalf of my students and behalf of myself to say that this is not OK and that I’m proud all of you are out here saying no to genocide," MacGiollabhuí said.

Since Thursday’s initial protest, student demonstrators have moved their encampment to Purdue’s Memorial Mall after experiencing what Hazboun described as the Purdue administration's unwillingness to work with student organizers.

Leaders in the Students for Justice in Palestine and Purdue's Young Democratic Socialists of America noted that they would be operating within Purdue University policies, but also protesting in a manner that would be beneficial to their cause.

Unlike a similar gathering at Indiana University in Bloomington, where police arrested student protestors, the Purdue protest was relatively peaceful, with no arrests Thursday and a lack of interaction between university police and protestors.

Ultimately, student demonstrators plan to keep their protest as calm and orderly as possible with the intention of protesting until the end of this weekend, Hazboun said.

Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on X at 1NoePadilla.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue faculty show support for on-campus protestors