Professors sue Atlanta's Emory University over handling of Israel-Gaza protests

"The lawsuit alleges the three professors sustained wrongful arrests and prosecution after the school's administration called Atlanta police and state troopers onto campus two years ago, brutally shutting down a protest encampment less than an hour after it began. The suit also alleges the school violated its own open expression policy."

"They reflect what is happening mostly at public universities, but is creeping into private ones—a very dark, authoritarian turn happening around the country. McAfee hopes to draw attention to the school's behavior with the complaint and help ensure the school never calls police onto the campus to quash a protest again."

"The trauma of that day, the violence of it, are so massive and so disruptive—and the administration has taken no ownership for what they did, and provided no apology."

Emory University, one of the nation's wealthiest private institutions with the 12th-largest endowment, confronted multiple crises during spring 2024. Three tenured professors filed a civil lawsuit alleging wrongful arrests and prosecution after the administration called police to violently shut down a protest encampment against Israel's Gaza assault. The suit claims the school violated its own open expression policy. Beyond the protests, Emory faced additional controversies including demands to remove Flock surveillance cameras, Black law school students protesting the administration's response to a student's racist social media posts and emails, and the subsequent expulsion of that student. Philosophy department chair Noelle McAfee characterizes these events as reflecting an authoritarian turn spreading from public to private universities, with lasting trauma affecting faculty and students.

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