University administration’s response to student protests and the Peace Quad encampment last semester drew criticism from several faculty members, who presented a letter to the Faculty Senate this Tuesday advocating for the right to protest and the importance of free speech on campus.

The letter, presented to the body by Monika Mehta and Surya Parekh, both associate professors of English, and Leo Wilton, a professor of human development, expressed concerns over police involvement and the dismantling of the encampment before a civil discussion could occur.

Key proposals were outlined in their presentation, including asking the Faculty Senate to pass a resolution that supports the “guaranteed rights of faculty, students, and staff to engage in speech and assembly about Palestine/Israel, in line with core principles of academic freedom and rights to free speech and free assembly.”

At the time of the meeting, the letter had received 59 signatures from other faculty members.

“Even if they wanted the encampment to end quickly, they didn’t show up on the first day to talk,” Parekh said. “They showed up on the second day with ultimatums. At least from where we sit, it didn’t seem like they made any genuine effort to say, ‘let’s talk first.’ It was, ‘you get rid of this, and then we’ll talk with you over the summer when everybody goes.’”

Those presenting also asked the body to demand administrators protect faculty exercising academic freedom, publicly denounce calls for faculty and staff to be fired, refrain from publishing biased statements and stand firm against outside political pressures.

They requested two other resolutions be implemented. One noted concern about administrators’ immediate deployment of police and letters threatening student conduct violations during the three-day encampment. The other asked administrators not to contact the police or threaten serious punishment in response to peaceful student protests.

Addressing the proposals, Vice President for Student Affairs Brian Rose said he believed the administration had a forthcoming and honest conversation with the encampment’s leaders in May.

“I explained that we weren’t going to meet with people who were violating University policy by having an encampment that went beyond the deadline that we established,” Rose said during the meeting. “That if they agreed to break down the encampment by the deadline that had been established, we would be happy to meet with them that same day.”

The faculty letter also referenced a previous op-ed written by Provost Donald Hall in the Miami Herald about diverse perspectives in the classroom. Metha called on the University to offer a public stance on academic freedom and live up to the values highlighted in Hall’s piece.

“It’s an invitation in some ways,” said Marina Sitrin, an associate professor of sociology. “It’s not a threatening letter. It’s an invitation to have more conversations and to change things and to be a leader, like we are in so many other areas. Why can’t we be a leader in free speech and assembly?”

Members of the Faculty Senate will bring the letter to their respective departments, and at the next meeting, scheduled for Nov. 19, they will continue to discuss the next steps forward.

Before the concerns were presented to the body, Aaron Beedle, the chair of the senate and an associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences, shared the University’s rules for campus protests — they must be held between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. with a 12-hour time limit and space must be reserved in coordination with the University Union and campus police.

“The Faculty Senate supports freedom of expression,” Dr. Beedle wrote to Pipe Dream. “I encourage members of the campus community to exercise these rights with respect for the place, time, and manner policies of the university.”

Bathabile Mthombeni, the University ombudsman, presented briefly on civil discourse and productive classroom conversations. Mthombeni suggested professors act as facilitators to hold space for difficult or controversial conversations.

Hall, the provost, released a statement on academic freedom to the faculty over the summer. It said they have academic freedom on matters concerning their subject but cannot “claim as their right the privilege of discussing in their classroom controversial matter which has no relation to their subject.” The statement emphasized that the University should provide space for civil discussion and responsible debate.

As part of the group that met with him throughout the summer, Parekh thanked Hall for engaging in productive conversations.

This is not the first time members of the faculty have vocalized support for student protesters in recent months. On the third and final day of the encampment, a group of faculty representing over 12 departments and programs signed a letter of support.

In response to the public support from some faculty members, the local chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America expressed their gratitude.

“Much as the letter of support from faculty on the final morning of the encampment was a rare beacon of light in the darkness of this University’s complicity in genocide, militarism, and colonialism, yesterday’s Faculty Senate proposal is an inspiring reminder that our instructors are some of our most important comrades,” the organization wrote to Pipe Dream.