Protesters from the Indiana Divestment Coalition, the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition, Jewish Voice for Peace and the Faculty Rapid Response Group disrupted a Board of Trustees meeting on June 14.
(Devan Ridgway, WTIU)
Protesters interrupted Indiana University’s Board of Trustees meeting in Bloomington Friday after campus groups teamed up.
About 50 protesters gathered inside and outside the meeting at Memorial Stadium’s Henke Hall.
The protesters have listed multiple complaints with Whitten’s administration, and they demanded Whitten and IU Bloomington Provost Rahul Shrivastav resign or be terminated. The Indiana Divestment Coalition, the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition, Jewish Voice for Peace and the Faculty Rapid Response Group collaborated for the protest.
Less than an hour after the board’s meeting opened to the public, Chair Quinn Buckner moved to end the meeting as protesters drowned out Whitten and other speakers. The meeting resumed later in a private room.
An IU spokesperson provided a statement after the meeting:
“To ensure IU’s campuses consistently welcome the freedom of expression, we have long applied conditions related to the time, place and manner of such displays to ensure the safety of the campus community and the continuity of our academic mission. Because today’s demonstration clearly disrupted that mission, the meeting was reconvened in a different room and livestreamed to the attending public to allow the Board of Trustees to continue the business of the university. The Board was undeterred and carried on with a productive agenda for the people of Indiana.”
Student Anne Kavalerchik is a member of the IGWC and Jewish Voice for Peace. She said the board’s decision to move the meeting reaffirms that the protesters hold power at IU.
“Because we have numbers and we have solidarity and we are not going away,” Kavalerchik said. “Even when she and other members of the administration tried to ignore this.”
Protesters repeated their plans to show up around campus and at board meetings.
“Whether they like it or not, we’re going to be here,” a speaker shouted through the megaphone.
Indiana Unversity student Anne Kavalerchik speaks at the protest Friday morning. (Devan Ridgway, WTIU)
Before the meeting was moved, protesters’ chants could be heard in Henke Hall.
Outside, protesters chants included slogans such as “Fire Pam” and “Hey hey, ho ho, Pamela has got to go.” Their chants became louder as they anticipated Chair Quinn Buckner and Whitten’s reports to the board.
Inside, about a dozen protesters held signs during the public portion of the meeting. Protesters spoke over Whitten and other speakers such as Bloomington Faculty Council President Colin Johnson, cutting statements short. The protesters were removed from the meeting and met with cheers outside.
Kavalerchik said every group at the protest has its own cause to fight for, but they are all united in their calls to end Whitten’s leadership at IU. Each group is getting stronger, she said.
“I think one of the things that it shows is how unified all of campus is behind this, this message of terminating Pamela Whitten’s presidency,” Kavalerchik said.
Protesters silently protested at the Board of Trustees meeting Thursday. On Friday, protesters gather inside and otuside Henke Hall. (Ethan Sandweiss, WTIU)
Faculty, staff, students and other community members have levied mounting complaints against Whitten administration in the last year. Protests and pushback came from concerns over academic freedom, shared governance, the graduate student union and the suppression of pro-Palestine speech and more.
Almost 900 Bloomington faculty gathered in April to vote no confidence in Whitten, Shrivastav and Vice Provost Carrie Docherty. At the vote, faculty shared concerns about IU’s leadership and the changing direction of the university. The votes came after months of controversy over academic freedom, shared governance, the graduate student union and the suppression of pro-Palestine speech.
Then 57 protesters with the IU Divestment Coalition were arrested, sparking even more outrage. Whitten and other university leaders changed decades-old policy the day before encampment protests in Dunn Meadow, and leaders brought in the Indiana State Police.
