Wayne State faculty: ‘Hands off our students’

Lani Kadi of the Wayne State University chapter of the Students for Justice in Palestine helps to lead a rally on June 4, 2024 in Detroit | Ken Coleman

A week after Wayne State University and Detroit police dismantled a pro-Palestinan encampment, school faculty, students and activists rallied on Tuesday against what they called an infringement on free speech and called for continued dialogue with campus officials.

“Hands off our students” was their refrain during the hour-long rally. 

Josh Wilburn, Wayne State University philosophy department chair, stated that WSU administration “must submit formal apologies to students, activists and legal observers who were treated with force” during the school’s effort to shut down the encampment.

Wilburn, one of several speakers during the rally, also stated the WSU President Kimberly Espy and the university’s Board of Governors must “engage in meaningful dialogue” with students and faculty on the issue.    

“We are deeply troubled by the events that unfolded on May 30, 2024, when WSU police cleared out the encampment and used force to prevent our tuition-paying students from returning to campus,” the WSU faculty said through a formal statement. “Police tackled demonstrators even as they were complying with police orders, and in at least one instance, forcibly removed a woman’s hijab. This is unacceptable. Twelve activists were arrested during this incident, including six current WSU students, an incoming WSU student, a family member of a student, and at least one legal observer. One student was hospitalized.”  

“We condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms,” the statement continues.. “The use of force against students peacefully advocating for their beliefs is unacceptable and contrary to the values of our academic community.”

The pro-Palestinian encampment was organized in May by the WSU chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), who have made four general demands of the university: divestment from “war-profiteering companies,” full disclosure of WSU investments and police “collaboration” with Israel, and issue a Gaza ceasefire statement that acknowledges a “genocide being carried out by the United States and Israel against the indigenous Palestinian population.”

“The brutal actions of the riot police initiated by the [WSU] administration as a necessary step after many good faith efforts to reach a conclusion stands in stark contradiction to the truth. In response to what was a peaceful demonstration of solidarity the Wayne State administration felt the need to deploy police officers in riot gear on students in encampment even though there was riot,” said Lani Kadi of the WSP chapter of SJP.

The Advance has been in contact with WSU officials several times this week, however, they did not offer a statement after the Tuesday rally. Matt Lockwood, WSU spokesman, offered a statement from Espy on Monday. 

“Let me reiterate that Wayne State is a university of inclusion that supports free speech and the right to protest,” Espy said. “We will always be a university that welcomes free expression of views that enable learning new perspectives through engaging, challenging conversations. At the same time, we must distinguish free speech from actions that violate laws, threaten health and safety, or disrupt campus operations. In response to the encampment, university leadership has been meeting regularly. We’ve heard from and consulted with leaders from across the city and region. We brought on additional security support for our campus. We paused construction at DeRoy Auditorium until the site is safe for everyone.”

Fighting in Gaza broke out on Oct. 7, after the Islamic militant organization Hamas attacked the southern portion of Israel. WSU protestors have named Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics as businesses with ties to the Israeli government.

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) on Monday blasted WSU officials for their actions toward the encampment effort and described it as “targeting,” and called it a “shameful action.” 

“Despite repeated militarized police threats and intimidation and the refusal of University President Kimberly Espy to come to the encampment to meet publicly with students about their demands, the encampment continued to exist peacefully for a week as students, faculty, and community members came together in solidarity,” Tlaib said through a statement. 

Similar encampments, making similar demands, have also gone up on other university campuses in Michigan, including at Michigan State University in East Lansing and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The U of M encampment was removed  by campus police, who took four people into custody before releasing them pending possible charges. Twelve protesters were arrested at WSU last week. 

Wayne State University’s Office of Multicultural Student Engagement announced on Monday that it is hosting four listening sessions for students this week to engage in dialogue with university leaders. The first was held on Tuesday and each is closed to the general public. 

“Since the start of the encampment, there has been an increase in the presence of on campus police, negatively affecting the student body and community members, ” a statement from the WSU Student Senate read. “The categorization of this protest as a threat to public safety is discriminatory language against those protesting, especially Muslim and Arab students.” 

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