Stony Brook University faculty narrowly defeats resolution censuring school president over protest arrests

The Stony Brook University Faculty Senate on Monday narrowly defeated a motion to censure the school's president, Maurie McInnis, for her handling of the arrests of 29 pro-Palestinian protesters earlier this month.

The senate defeated the resolution by a 55-51 vote, with three abstentions, said Richard Larson, a professor and president of the senate.

The senate originally was to vote on a “no confidence” resolution, but switched it to a lower-level censure vote with somewhat less critical language, he said.

McInnis said she appreciated the backing.

“I am deeply grateful for the support of the Stony Brook faculty at this challenging time for so many universities,” McInnis said in a statement.

“I realize there remains passionate disagreement among members of our community on the issues we are facing, and I pledge to do whatever I can to help our campus heal and move forward,” she added.

Larson said the vote underscored that “the campus is divided right down the middle. It’s certainly not an endorsement of the president’s handling of the May 1 and 2 arrests and the actions taken in the wake of those arrests.”

The vote was largely symbolic — the senate does not have any administrative power at the university.

McInnis had come under fire for the arrests of the protesters and the seizing, by campus police, of the cellphones belonging to 17 of them. Two professors who had their phones taken were among the 29 people arrested.

University officials on Monday returned 16 of the phones, though the protesters and some legal experts said the seizure put a chilling effect on the protesters' right to free speech.

Last Monday, in a heated two-hour Faculty Senate meeting, the organization tabled for a week a vote on a resolution expressing “no confidence in President McInnis’s capacity to perform the ongoing duties of her office in a wise and humane manner.”

The new censure resolution stated that “President McInnis and senior administration have responded to peaceful protests on our campus with a disproportionate degree of force, failing to negotiate with students in good faith and deploying Suffolk County Police and New York State Troopers to arrest members of the Stony Brook community.”

Some faculty members have been circulating a petition supporting McInnis, said Gallya Lahav, a political science professor.

“I think she handled it with grace. I think she handled it in the best way she can,” Lahav said. McInnis forcefully spoke out against antisemitism on campus, she added.

A spokesperson for the university said the returned phones were given to a lawyer representing the students on Monday morning.

Stony Brook professor Josh Dubnau, who was arrested and had his phone taken, said Monday that police still have one student's phone. The university declined to comment on that.

“All legal processes were followed and adhered to while we had the phones in our custody,” the Stony Brook spokesperson said.

The spokesperson referred further questions to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, which has declined to comment.

Fred Klein, a professor at the Hofstra University School of Law and a former chief of the Major Offense Bureau in the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, said he believes the seizure of the phones was illegal.

“The phones never should have been taken in the first place,” he said. “It seems like a pretty blatant violation of their constitutional rights.”

Police will typically confiscate a wallet, keys and other items while a person is being processed for an arrest, but generally must return the property after the person has been released from custody, legal experts have told Newsday. The exception is if it might serve as evidence in a criminal case. The protesters were charged with disorderly conduct, which is a non-criminal offense.

School officials warned students protesting on May 1 that they had to move from the grassy hill where they had camped out, saying it was needed for other events. But the demonstrators refused, triggering the arrests.