On Nov. 19, the Case Western Reserve University Undergraduate Student Government (USG) held their annual Q&A session with President Eric Kaler during their General Assembly (GA) meeting. This was one of the first times, since last spring’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment, where students were able to directly ask Kaler about the direction the university has taken.
Originally, it was announced that the Q&A was to take place in Adelbert Hall, but it was then moved to the ballrooms in the Tinkham Veale University Center to accommodate a larger-than-expected crowd. According to CampusGroups, 110 students and faculty registered to attend. On the Instagram page for CWRU’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), organizers encouraged their supporters to “Pack the USG GA.”
The first 40 minutes constituted a curated list of questions chosen by USG from student and GA submissions. During this portion of the Q&A, Kaler addressed a long list of topics from school spirit to the implications of the upcoming Donald Trump presidency on CWRU’s operations.
The most contentious part of the meeting occurred in the final 20 minutes during an “Open Q&A” where students lined up behind a microphone to ask unvetted questions, many of which concerned Kaler’s support for various marginalized communities on campus, including Black and LGBTQIA+ individuals.
In that time, an audience member criticized Kaler’s lack of response to widespread racist text messages received by Black students across the U.S., including at CWRU, questioning why Kaler did not send a campus-wide email reassuring support for any Black students who may have felt threatened. Kaler responded by apologizing, saying, “I’m very sorry [they] received messages that made [them] feel that way. The situation in the political sphere right now is so charged and divisive, I actually cannot think of a message that I could send that would help people feel better, across the board.” This statement was met with boos from the crowd.
Vice President for Student Affairs Travis Apgar interrupted by stating that he had sent an email. However, the student pointed out the difference between a message from a VP and one from the president. The student said, “It gave the impression that the African Americans on campus are not important enough for your time.” Kaler responded, “That is an unfortunate perception. It’s not true. I’m sorry if you feel that way.”
Referencing Senate Bill 104, which will ban non-gender, mutistall bathrooms and require bathrooms to be used based on gender assigned at birth, Kaler explained that he expects “the bill not to be signed immediately, and there’ll be a 90-day period for us to respond.” Even as a private university, CWRU will have to comply with this bill, but Kaler reiterated the administration’s goal to “maintain and promote an environment where everyone can feel safe, learn and be treated fairly.” He added that this commitment “absolutely holds to our friends and gender ambiguous students and members of our community.”
In addition, many attendees pressed Kaler about the recent vandalism on CWRU’s campus and the arrests of four CWRU students. “I know some of you will find that frustrating but it’s now a criminal investigation, and we cannot provide further comment,” Kaler said.
Another attendee asked Kaler, “Do you think arrested students should be denied their rights?” They referenced the claim by SJP that students who were arrested were denied legal counsel. “It turns out there’s actually a settled case law on that,” Kaler said, mentioning that “the Sixth Amendment provides for access to a lawyer during critical portions of their prosecution. The arrest and transport to jail is not covered by those qualifications.” According to him, the university behaved within the boundaries of the law since the arrested students were provided attorneys upon request once at the jail.
One of the larger points of contention during the Q&A concerned the Freedom of Expression Policy and the amended posting policy. Kaler said, “We have an obligation to our community, as the administration, to provide a safe environment, free of intimidation, that promotes freedom of speech in a way that is safe and lawful. I believe our amended procedures do that in a robust way.” While he emphasized the unlikeliness of administration stepping away from the current policy—even as a result of USG action—he noted that they are amenable to hearing student concerns, citing the changes in late August that amended some of the rules regarding student demonstrations.
Students also asked about the recent Title VI investigation into CWRU. This investigation was undertaken following the alleged failure of the administration’s response to alleged harassment of Palestinian, Arab or Muslim students. President Kaler reaffirmed his position on the investigation and student complaints of anti-Palestinian sentiment, stating his belief that Palestinian students were treated even-handedly and that the university would “cooperate with [the investigation] to the full extent of the law.” He added that the university is “providing a safe environment for all of our students, providing access for all of our students to all of our campus and not allowing intimidating or threatening interactions.”
The first hour of the USG meeting concluded with a group of student protesters beginning the chant “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest” and walking out of the Tink ballroom. However, anyone who walked out of Tink on the side of Mather Quad was met by three counter-protesters on the sidewalk outside of Tink.
One student described crossing the street and being stopped by a counter-protester. After establishing his support for Palestinian liberation, the student was told by the counter-protester that “there is a place for you in Gaza soon.” Another student, walking her friend to a nearby SafeRide, said, “I know it isn’t CWRU property, but we are trying to go about our days on our own campus and we can’t.”
During the open Q&A session, Kaler was questioned about the campus presence of the counter-protesters, and he stated that one of the counter-protesters outside “is banned from this campus … but he is not banned from Cleveland public sidewalks and streets,” so the university does not have the legal authority to remove him from the premises. When asked how students feeling unsafe and being verbally harassed should handle the situation, Kaler said that they should call CWRU and Cleveland police. During the counter-protest, two CWRU Division of Public Safety vehicles drove by several times and parked across the street, but officers never engaged with the event’s attendees and the protesters.