Faculty Senate chair warns of ‘challenging juncture,’ reaffirms commitment to shared governance

In a new letter, Faculty Senate Chair and law professor Eric Feldman addressed ongoing tensions on campus and described faculty as being at an “extraordinarily complex and challenging juncture.” 

The Aug. 27 welcome letter outlined three values essential to the University’s academic mission. It accompanied an agenda for the Sept. 4 Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting, which includes finalizing the hearing lists for the 2024-25 Center for Community Standards and Accountability and for the Faculty Grievance Commission.

The re-nomination of faculty to serve as candidates for hearing panels happens annually, as outlined by the Charter of the University Student Disciplinary System. Thirteen or more faculty will be nominated to the Disciplinary Hearing Officer, who will randomly select those to serve on the hearing panels.

The agenda also includes finalizing faculty membership on the 2024-25 Committee on Open Expression. 

In his welcome letter, Feldman, who succeeded Tulia Falleti following her resignation in protest of Penn's decision to disband the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, outlined three values essential to the University’s academic mission. These values include shared governance, open expression, and academic freedom. 

The letter follows a semester of protest on campus, including the 16-day-long Gaza Solidarity Encampment on College Green, which ended with a police sweep and the arrest of nine Penn students. 

In July, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported that Penn suspended four students involved with on-campus pro-Palestinian activism — including the Gaza Solidarity Encampment — according to an Instagram post from the Freedom School for Palestine. Before that, Penn placed six student organizers affiliated with the encampment on mandatory leaves of absence in early May.

In his letter, Feldman wrote that the Faculty Senate would continue to advocate for shared governance and for faculty input on student conduct cases.

"Shared governance has been increasingly challenged in recent years; the Faculty Senate must and will strenuously oppose those efforts," he wrote.

In March of last year, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee examined the role of faculty in the discipline process. In May, the Executive Committee’s agenda included establishing a potential list of faculty to be used in cases of student misconduct and faculty grievances. This week, those lists will be finalized.