NEW PALTZ, N.Y. — A letter signed by 123 members of the SUNY New Paltz faculty and an online petition containing more than 500 signatures, both condemn the response of college President Darrell P. Wheeler and the state police-led mobilization he authorized last week against a student encampment in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
“We may not agree with each other on how to respond to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Israel-Hamas war, or the rhetoric the protestors used. But we are clear in our condemnation of the police response as a brutal infringement of First Amendment freedoms,” the professors wrote.
The petition cites police response to a “peaceful” student encampment and alleges that Wheeler “does not care about the voices and well-being of students on campus.” It demands that he be “removed from his position as president.”
A spokesperson for the state university system did not respond when asked what latitude, if any, individual college presidents were given when deciding whether to call for a police presence on their campuses. In an email Thursday, a spokesperson for the state university system wrote that, “SUNY is committed to ensuring the safety of our students and campus communities while preserving freedom of expression. President Wheeler acknowledged the need to listen to the various voices and stances on campus, and to hear those positions fully. He continues to have SUNY System’s support as he works to help the campus move forward together.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The faculty letter to Wheeler and SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. states, “We, the undersigned, are SUNY New Paltz faculty and staff members who decry the use of excessive force in the police response, activated by state officials, to remove demonstrators from Parker Quad on May 2.”
The protest and encampment at New Paltz were a reaction to the Israel-Hamas war, which began when Hamas militants breached Israel’s defenses on Oct. 7 and swept through nearby army bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Hamas is still believed to be holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others after most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year. The war has killed over 34,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel’s offensive, waged with U.S.-supplied munitions, has caused widespread devastation and forced some 80% of Gaza’s population to flee their homes.
The New Paltz encampment ended with the arrest of 132 protestors, according to police.
On Thursday, a college spokesperson said the school is considering disciplinary actions against students who were arrested on an individual basis.
The faculty letter states that, “One protester was hospitalized. A news reporter was among those arrested. Demonstrators were roughly dragged from the scene.” Videos of the arrests show officers marching in formation and then using their bullyclubs to separate protestors who sat down and locked arms.
“The police response occurred after protestors dismantled the tents of the encampment in response to the conditions set by the university administration. This raises grave issues of freedom of speech and assembly. The police violently broke up a peaceful gathering in a public space on campus,” the faculty petition stated.
In a separate letter sent Thursday, from Weldon McWilliams IV, Shelton K. Johnson, Blair M. Proctor and Anthony Dandridge of the New Paltz Department of Black Studies said that, at the May 8 faculty meeting, “President Wheeler respectfully listened with intent … to understand the pain and trauma experienced in the past few days by the university community” and “made an effort to provide insight into his decision-making process.”
During the meeting, the Black Studies letter stated that students, faculty, staff and alumni “shared first-hand accounts of the May 2nd events, including stories of police violence, arrests, assaults, injuries, frustration, loss of property, loss of confidence and trust, etc.” While acknowledging Wheeler’s “duty and responsibility to use his best judgment,” the letter said, “We do not believe he did what was in the best interest of our faculty, staff, students, and university community on May 2, 2024.”
The Black Studies letter calls on Wheeler to immediately grant amnesty from suspensions, expulsions and any disciplinary actions for violation of university policies. It also asks that he not preside over graduation this year, yielding that responsibility to the vice president and provost for academic affairs “to maintain the pomp and circumstance, peace, dignity, and order of the ceremony.”
That call for Wheeler to take a step away from the graduation ceremonies scheduled for May 17 to 19 was echoed by history professor Heather Morrison in a separate letter.
Lastly, the Black Studies letter urges Wheeler to “redefine his legacy as the 9th and the First Black and Queer President of SUNY New Paltz and strengthen and enhance the vision, brand, reputation, culture and university favorability on a local, state, and national scale.”
At a meeting on Tuesday, May 7, with students, faculty and community members, Wheeler referred to Israeli policies as “genocidal behavior occurring to Palestinian people and the people of Gaza.”
But in a clarification addressed to the Daily Freeman on Thursday, Wheeler said, “Coming together as a campus requires listening to diverse perspectives. In a meeting with students earlier this week, I acknowledged the terrible number of deaths of innocent civilians in Gaza, and I repeated a student’s framing of the issue. While I deplore the loss of any innocent life, I did not refer to the tragedy there as a genocide.”
U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro wrote in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, while linking to the Freeman story about the meeting, that “HAMAS is engaged in genocidal behavior. Israel, like every other democratic nation throughout history, is defending its right to exist and putting an end to the attempted destruction of their nation.” Molinaro continued, “Gov. Hochul – you need to step in and ensure the safety of our Jewish SUNY students.”
In a statement issued on Thursday, a college spokesperson said Wheeler “has also been reading through the many emails from faculty, staff, students, parents and alumni in response to the events of May 2. A clear takeaway was the desire and need for more counseling and mental health services. … Another takeaway was the request to give the students amnesty from student code of conduct charges, and that is a request that University leadership is closely evaluating.”
Wheeler “also heard many painful accounts from students and eyewitnesses about their experiences during the dismantling of the encampment. There are existing processes through which those individuals may submit a formal complaint, which will trigger an investigation. To date, no formal complaints have been filed with University Police, nor with our Title IX or conduct offices,” the spokesperson wrote.
The SUNY New Paltz chapter of the Jewish student organization Hillel, the Resnick Institute at New Paltz and Rabbi Moshe Plotkin, director of Jewish studies at the college, did not immediately respond to emails requesting statements about the encampment and safety concerns, if any, of Jewish students at the college.
The Associated Press contributed to this article a description of events leading to the Israel-Hamas war.
