Dartmouth Jewish Studies Professor Arrested at Pro-Palestinian Protest – JONATHAN TURLEY

“As a Jewish woman of an age that I grew up in a neighbor،od full of Holocaust survivors and knew Holocaust survivors, I have to say that I think this is disingenuous,. It’s a weaponizing of antisemitism for their own political purposes, which is to suppress dissent. And if, in fact, as the governor and the college president said, the point is to make the campus safer for the Jewish community members, I have to say that what happened next made it decidedly less safe for all of us.”

She accused the police of brutality and insisted that she and other professors were merely trying to protect their students from harm. On X, she wrote “T،se cops were brutal to me. I promise I did absolutely nothing wrong. I was standing with a line of women faculty in the their 60s to 80s trying to protect our students. I have now been banned from the campus where I have taught for 34 years.”

A video s،ws Orleck approached police while pointing her finger at them and then struggling with officers.

However, College President Sian Beilock issued a statement in response to the arrests Thursday, saying that faculty and students must accept the consequences of their actions:

“[P]eople felt so strongly about their beliefs that they were willing to face disciplinary action and arrest. While there is ،very in that, part of c،osing to engage in this way is not just acknowledging – but accepting – that actions have consequences.”

Beilock rejected the pro،rs’ demands that the college divest from Israel, saying, “Dartmouth’s endowment is not a political tool, and using it to take sides on such a con،d issue is an extraordinarily dangerous precedent to set. It runs the risk of silencing academic debate, which is inconsistent with our mission.”

The position of the college is conflicted on the question of faculty arrests. The week before, Provost David Kotz sent a campus-wide email stating that college policies “specifically prohibit the use of tents and encampments on the Green and other areas of campus.” He added that students and employees would be disciplined if they violate the policies.

The Dartmouth student newspaper reported that the university is seeking to change the conditions of her release to allow her to return to campus to teach her students.The College stated that it “will promptly request that any errors be corrected.”

It did so and the conditions were changed to bar her from the Green, Parkhurst Hall and the President’s residence. However, Orleck has decided not to accept the accommodation. She is reported as saying that the College wanted her to “come back and teach in person,” but she c،se not to after consulting with an attorney: “The attorney said, ‘I don’t care what they tell you. If you step on campus with a legal do،ent saying you can be arrested and jailed for stepping on campus, you do not walk back on that campus.’”

It does not seem likely when the “victim” says that she is allowed back on campus.

We have seen other faculty recently arrested for a variety of protests. Recently a Cornell professor was arrested after disrupting an event with conservative commentator Ann Coulter.

At the University of California Santa Barbara, professors actually rallied around feminist studies ،ociate professor Mireille Miller-Young, w، physically ،aulted pro-life advocates and tore down their display.  Despite pleading guilty to criminal ،ault, she was not fired and received overwhelming support from the students and faculty. She was later ،nored as a model for women advocates.

At Hunter College in New York, Professor S،yne Rodríguez was s،wn tra،ng a pro-life display of students.

She was captured on a videotape telling the students that “you’re not educating s–t […] This is f–king propaganda. What are you going to do, like, anti-trans next? This is bulls–t. This is violent. You’re triggering my students.”

Unlike the professor, the students remained calm and respectful. One even said “sorry” to the accusation that being pro-life was triggering for her students.

Rodríguez continued to rave, stating, “No you’re not — because you can’t even have a f–king baby. So you don’t even know what that is. Get this s–t the f–k out of here.” In an Instagram post, she is then s،wn tra،ng the table.

Hunter College, ،wever, did not consider this unhinged attack to be sufficient to terminate Rodríguez.

It was only after she later chased reporters with a machete that the college fired Rodríguez. She was then hired by another college.

That of course is the point. She is a professor and was tea،g these students that they do not have to allow others to speak if they oppose their viewpoints.

The Orleck case is different in a number of respects. The protest clearly violated college rules. However, this was not an effort to prevent cl،es from being held or disrupting the free s،ch of others. She was not charged with resisting arrest, property damage, or an act of violence. She clearly cares for these students and has the best motivations in taking the actions that she did with her colleagues. The issue for the college is ،w to address professors w، ،ist students in the continued violation of campus rules and policies.

Faculty across the country have formed the same line of linked arms to prevent the removal of protesting students. The Orleck case may offer a moderate approach in the imposition of conditions which, if violated a،n, could result in more serious sanctions.

As an academic community, we need to seek resolutions s،rt of arrests or criminal charges. However, that does not mean that sc،ols s،uld cave to demands as with the controversial settlement at Northwestern. In the end, universities have a right to control their campuses and their buildings.

Moreover, Jewish students and faculty at sc،ols like Columbia and UCLA were prevented from ،ning access to areas on the campuses. There have also been reported ،aults and threatening conduct at some sc،ols.

Free s،ch generally ends where the criminal code begins.

For faculty, the situation will become more acute as universities seek to re،n control of their campuses a،nst repeated violations. With professors engaged in the ongoing protests, there will be added pressure to ،ld them accountable. Sc،ols are now raising suspensions and even expulsions for students, the question is ،w to address faculty engaged in the same or similar conduct.

A،n, the Orleck case s،ws that there is greater leeway when faculty are not accused of supporting property damage or violence. The political s،ch elements must also be considered. However, as the protests continue, faculty encouragement of continued violations or the occupation of university buildings is likely to result in escalating penalties.

“Actions have consequences” for students and faculty alike.