By Violet Domínguez
Note: Most names have been changed to provide safety and anonymity.
“Whose university? Our university! Whose campus? Our campus!” On Wednesday 21 February another protest took place on the second floor of the Academic Building (AB). This time students gathered to speak out against the AUC Management Team’s censorship of political expression after six students were called into mandatory individual meetings with the Dean regarding reported breaches in AUC’s Social Code of Conduct.
At 13.00, students began chanting and clapping on the second floor of the AB: “AUC, hear our cry! When sanctioned, we just multiply!” Some students who led the shouts gave speeches concerning the Administration’s treatment of students. One of the most pressing issues was the lack of transparency around the reasons why students were reported. The Dean, Prof. Dr. Martin van Hees, and Director of Education, Dr. Marianne Riphagen, observed from the side of the stairs as students condemned the AUC administration. “Look at how they talk to us and treat us!,” shouted one of the organisers.
In regards to the communication with these six students, whose identity remains anonymous, van Hees tells the Herring that he “cannot comment on [their] interaction with individual students for reasons of privacy,” but says that all Management did was follow the “appropriate procedures” upon the breaches of the code of conduct.
A flyer was handed out at the protest that summarised their issue and reason for it.
Photos by Violet Domínguez
After months of initiatives, sit-ins and protests organised by AUFree Palestine (AUFP), AUC Management has still not addressed their three demands, the first of them being the allowance of political expression within the University grounds. Van Hees states that “a detailed response” was actually given by Management to the requests in January that has not been made public as asked by AUFP, “emphasising the confidentiality of the talks.” AUFP has not responded to a request for comment on the issue.
During the protest on Wednesday, the Dean approached and talked to one of the students present during three separate occasions. According to van Hees, he was pointing out the Social Code of Conduct as a warning. Riphagen recorded the interactions as well as the rest of the students at the protest. One student commented that the videoing is a common practice at the protests. Blair, a first-year Humanities major, says that being recorded felt “really weird and uncomfortable.” As an explanation for the recording, the Dean said that they “have been advised to document” whenever verbal warnings are given directly to students.
After around an hour of protesting on the second floor, students moved around all floors of the AB, still chanting, and even entered the teacher’s and management’s area before finishing by the entrance of the building, where they sat down.
Luna, a third-year Humanities major, joined the protest because she “fully wants to support” the students. She thinks that it is “our duty as students to protect those who decide to stand up for causes that matter.” When joining the students and chanting, she was especially touched by the shout: “If you take six of us, you have to take all of us!” She explains that if freedom of speech is limited by the university, it doesn’t “just concern six students, it concerns all of us.” To her, the issue goes even beyond Palestine, but about “our rights as students to express ourselves [politically]”. Blair also agrees on the importance of student rights, and opines that “we cannot let the Dean have such executive and authoritarian power.”
The Student Council (StuCo), who spoke as the entire council in their statements to The Herring, also states that they are “deeply troubled” and “alarmed” as they believe the actions by the AUC Management Team “demonstrate a concerning abuse of power.” When the students were called into mandatory individual meetings, they were not provided with any explanation as to why, nor were they informed of the procedures AUC was following in addressing their alleged violations. The criteria used to determine the Dean’s final decision was also not clarified.
Following a statement released by StuCo on Friday 1 March on Instagram, three of the students summoned for the meetings left with only a warning from the Dean due to a lack of conclusive evidence, while the other three students are currently on social probation. While van Hees did not provide any additional information, besides from commenting that they are trying to ensure safety and “show respect to everyone” at AUC, StuCo has shared what social probation entails. Firstly, the students are not able to benefit from “certain privileges or represent AUC”: they cannot study abroad nor work for AUC, and are strongly discouraged from taking representative positions on, for example, the Student Council.
Social probation also entails a project decided by the Dean. In this case, the three students are to: either “write a 4000-word essay that provides an overview of existing accounts of the concept of institutional responsibility and their philosophical presuppositions;” or, “prepare a complete CPI proposal that could be used by other AUC students (or yourself) to apply for a CPI. The CPI proposal must be aimed at making a positive contribution for those affected by the events in Gaza.”
Luna firmly disagrees with the probation, saying that students “should all be able to protest in whatever way we want to, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.” Like StuCo, she believes that the measures taken by Management do not “hide the fact that they are still not acting nor taking a stance.”
Moreover, in regards to the issue of the Palestinian liberation at heart, StuCo says that the projects assigned as part of the social probation “fail to address the pressing issues in Palestine adequately,” seemingly implying that Managements is “unwilling to take meaningful action to avoid complicity in the ongoing situation.” Still, StuCo wishes to make clear that the six students approached them as individuals, separate from AUFP.
Sasha, a second-year Humanities major, though attending the protest on Wednesday as an active participant, felt that the reminder as to why the protests continue was missing. Although she supposes that all students remain aware of the genocide in Palestine, she says that no one at the protest mentioned Gaza, nor the “main tension,” which she believes is for AUC to cut ties with Israeli zionist entities. As Sasha sees it, it is important to keep making the reasons for the fight “loud and clear” and discuss why students are struggling, rather than taking “attention away from Gaza and on [the students].”
Another point that Luna highlights is the perceived lack of the ability to apply her AUC studies to real life. “AUC puts pressure on being critical thinkers but when it comes into practice, we’re limited in doing that,” she says. She also mentions the pamphlet that was distributed around the dorms mid-February called ‘Mask of Neutrality: Protest and the University’ written by an anonymous author, Pero. In the pamphlet, AUC is described as engaging in “decaffeinated decolonization”. Luna highly agrees with this term, saying that students are educated around “decolonized perspective[s], but when colonisation is happening in front of us, we’re taught to shut up.” She also adds that “it shows how superficial their teaching is. What are we supposed to do, learn things and not apply them in real life?”
Refusing to “shut up” as Luna mentions, Anselm Herbst, a first-year Humanities student, thinks that remaining silent about the genocide “give[s] legitimacy to the crimes that Israel is committing,” emphasising the importance for student-led actions.
The students approached by the Herring all seem to agree in their frustration with the AUC’s lack of transparent communication. While Blair describes the statements released by Administration as “very unclear and messy,” Herbst adds that it is “outrageous” that no criticism has been acknowledged and that instead students are “target[ed]” for “standing up for their beliefs.”
StuCo also writes that the “arbitrary application of rules” together with the “lack of transparency in decision-making processes conducted by one individual alone, the Dean, is unacceptable within our community.” The Student Council has also shared that they are releasing a petition in support of the six students which demands accountability and fairness, as well as for the charges to be dropped. It will be posted today in the link on their Instagram Biography.
Luna admits that the way the AUC Management Team speaks about the protests, for instance, in emails and Canvas announcements, makes her “really angry.” “I know I shouldn’t swear,” she begins, “but it’s fucked, it’s really fucked,” she lets out.
The Herring 