Wake Forest University faculty consider vote of no confidence in President Susan Wente

A pro-Palestine rally and encampment at Wake Forest University was disbanded earlier this month upon the arrival of dozens of law enforcement officers.

In an open letter to President Susan Wente, several faculty and staff members condemned the decision, calling it quote “unnecessary and dangerous.” 

They write that the involvement of police put the protesters, about nine predominantly Black, brown and LGBTQ students, and the faculty members present, at risk of harm and death. 

Mir Yarfitz, a history professor, attended the protest and was one of 197 signatories of the letter. 

“The most horrifying piece of all of it for me even beyond the police rolling in like that, was the many, many students who took it upon themselves to harass, dox, threaten, terrorize and abuse this group of students who were peaceful protesting," Yarfitz said. "Those are my students. I'm supposed to teach those students.”

In the open letter, faculty members state that protesters were called racist and homophobic slurs, and threatened with physical violence.  

Yarfitz says he’s not sure how he can return to his job after what happened, and that the student protesters are in a similar position. He says administrators and campus police have been repeatedly calling students to ask for their whereabouts, which has kept them from returning home. 

“We started housing the students, feeding the students, creating all of these safe houses for them to hang out and study and try to bring their blood pressure down," Yarfitz said. "We brought in healers. They couldn't go back to campus because they were being physically threatened on campus and they were traumatized.”

In a letter to the Wake Forest community on May 14, President Wente said she disagreed with those who say the presence of police was an act of violence. 

She said she’s confident the decisions were made with quote “the safety and well-being” of the protesters, and entire campus, in mind. WFDD requested comment from university officials, but as of Wednesday afternoon, they said they were not scheduling interviews. 

Faculty members will vote on a resolution of no confidence in Wente’s leadership next week.

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.