ATLANTA — Emory University continues to be roiled by the nationwide protest movement supporting Palestine that expanded to its campus and made it a focal point of the movement in Atlanta.
The fallout will continue Monday when the university's president, Gregory L. Fenves, holds a town hall and students have a confidence vote planned.
The town hall is scheduled for 10 a.m. It will be a held in a virtual format.
A university notice on the town hall stated: "We feel strongly that it is important for our community to heal."
It's to be moderated jointly by the University Senate Executive Committees for this school year and next year.
The Emory Student Government Association held an emergency session last Friday to approve the coming vote.
It comes on the heels of faculty groups having similar votes. Last Friday, the Emory University College of Arts and Science faculty senate voted no confidence in Fenves in a vote of 358-119. Emory's Oxford College faculty also voted no confidence in Fenves by a margin of more than 90%, the university student newspaper The Emory Wheel reported.
The university responded in a statement, saying:
"On May 3, the Faculty Senate of the Emory College of Arts and Sciences shared that faculty passed a vote of no confidence in President Fenves. The faculty eligible to vote on this measure were those within Emory College, one of the university's nine schools. Such votes are non-binding.
"While we take any concerns expressed by members of our community seriously, there are a wide range of perspectives being shared within the Emory community."
Even though their votes are just ceremonial, students 11Alive spoke to said they are excited to have their voices heard.
"I think getting student input is always important. I do think that ultimately, unfortunately, because this is a university, the institution and the board of trustees will probably make the final decision. Still, it is nice that as students, we can try to make our voice heard anyway," said student Natasha Rasnick.
Meanwhile, student Patrick Pantoja noted, "I haven’t really made a decision on what I’m going to do yet but I think it’s kinda important to give it up to the students and ask for their vote,” added student Patrick Pantoja.
The vote comes as President Fenves addresses both faculty and students in a webinar on Monday. Shortly before that town hall, the university also announced that, because of safety concerns stemming from the recent Pro Palestine protest, it will move its commencement ceremonies from campus to the Gas South Arena in Duluth.
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