The following is a guest contribution and reflects the author’s views alone. For information on how to submit a piece to the Opinion section, click here.
Editor’s note: The Daily Princetonian was unable to independently verify the author’s claim that sit-in protesters participated in “yelling and intimidation” within Clio Hall on Monday. There are differing accounts of the sit-in — including from Professor Ruha Benjamin, who joined students in Clio Hall.
I am both a graduate alum of Princeton as well as an administrative staff member who worked in the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School for a decade. Although I am not a faculty member, I served for an extended period as the acting dean of the Graduate School during my time as a staff member there. It is from this unusual perspective that I write to convey my dismay at the actions taken by a group of protestors towards Graduate School staff in Clio Hall on Monday of this week.
Nonviolent and peaceful protests have a place on college campuses; such protests are an important exercise of freedom of speech and expression. However, when expression turns into mob activity that threatens and displaces staff who play no meaningful role in the matters of interest to the protestors, it crosses a line.
The Graduate School staff work tirelessly and constantly to ensure that graduate students have the academic support, funding and benefits, professional development opportunities, health and wellness assistance, and sense of community that will allow them to thrive. That was true when I was there, and it is even more true today under Dean Priestley’s leadership.
The occupation of staff offices in Clio Hall interrupted that important work — work that provides graduate students with the opportunity to develop their ideas and express them in meaningful and productive ways. The yelling and intimidation that protestors are said to have directed at Graduate School staff were not just disruptive, however. They were also misdirected and harmful. Staff at Clio Hall during the occupation have reported feeling scared and shaken. They were startled at the anger directed towards them by those they serve and were fearful as they were ordered out of their personal workspaces by the protestors.
There are real power differentials on this campus, and we all have an obligation to be mindful of them. The students, postdocs, and faculty who occupied Clio Hall seem to have abused their privileges in the way they treated staff as an expression of protest. That is wrong.
The actions of a few do not represent the excellent relationships that the Graduate School staff have with the great majority of graduate students and faculty. I am confident that Dean Priestley and his staff will remain devoted to graduate students and graduate education, and that their good work and resolve to help students flourish will continue, despite the unacceptable treatment that the staff received this week.
I stand with the Graduate School staff. And I ask all of our community, including those who may wish to participate in protests related to the Israel-Palestine conflict, to offer all staff the respect and support they also deserve in these challenging times.
Cole M. Crittenden *05 is the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.
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