The University of Southern California’s academic senate voted on Wednesday to censure Carol Folt, the school’s president, after several tumultuous weeks in which the administration canceled the valedictory address of a Muslim student, cleared a protest encampment within hours and called in police last month to arrest dozens of protesters.
The academic senate, which consists primarily of faculty members, also endorsed calls for an investigation into the administration’s actions.
The vote represented only a fraction of the university's 4,700 faculty members, and the senate stopped short of taking a vote of no-confidence in the administrators, which would have been a harsher rebuke.
Despite criticism, Dr. Folt has maintained considerable support from the university’s trustees, and some faculty members have quietly sympathized with her.
Still, the vote was “significant” with “far-reaching implications,” said William G. Tierney, a professor emeritus of higher education at U.S.C., who has written about the response to campus protests across the nation.
Persons:
Carol Folt, Folt, Andrew T, Guzman, ”, William G, Tierney
Organizations:
University of Southern
Locations:
U.S.C