“This crackdown on NYU faculty is part of a distressing pattern of repression of pro-Palestinian speech on college campuses,” said AAUP President Dr. Todd Wolfson. “The AAUP condemns this practice and we will fight to defend academic freedom and the right of faculty, students, and staff to peacefully assemble on campuses across the country."
John Beckman, an NYU spokesman said that the protests were not peaceful.
“The people involved were intentionally targeting members of our community; their harassing behavior disrupted our academic operations at a particularly critical moment in the semester (as finals start), ignored the rights of students who wish to study in the library, and interfered with safe passage into and out of a core academic building,” said Beckman
The faculty arrested have been blocked from entering NYU buildings or even going to their own offices or classrooms.
AAUP officials criticized NYU’s decision, saying that such actions “deprives faculty members of their right to perform their primary responsibilities as teachers and researchers.”