Trigger warning: This article contains references to physical abuse.
Emory University has recently witnessed a series of events where Caroline Fohlin, an economics professor, was arrested during the clampdown on pro-Palestine protests.
The incident happened on Thursday, April 25, 2024, as tempers flared up at the Decatur-based campus in Georgia. Many other colleges across the United States have experienced similar scenarios with students demonstrating their solidarity with Palestine.
The dilemma of a lecturer
Caroline Fohlin is an old hand in this field, having taught at Emory College of Arts and Sciences since 2017. She found herself amidst the fracas when she was teaching a class. A video that has gone viral shows her being pushed to the ground by one of the deputies for which she was arrested.
The viewers were very much concerned seeing her glasses falling off her face and hitting hard on the concrete after being knocked down by that police officer. Her academic background includes studying mathematics and quantitative economics at Tufts University, where she earned a BA.
Later, she proceeded to do a Doctorate in Economics at California Berkeley in 1994. Before coming to work here, she taught at Johns Hopkins University, among others, such as Caltech.
Fierce battle at school campus
Different law enforcement agencies, such as the Emory Police Department, Atlanta Police, and Georgia State Patrol, were involved in what took place at Emory University.
Some reports state that tear gas canisters were used together with rubber bullets fired; this marks a big shift in strategy employed by authorities who had been dealing peacefully with these demonstrators before now.
Emory administration referred to them as ‘trespassers’ through its statement, condemning vandalism or criminal acts perpetrated by any person within those groups present illegally on campus grounds while protesting against Israeli apartheid divestment from the Cop City campaign. These protests were going on via various social media platforms used by activists nationwide, including students.
Israeli apartheid refers to policies implemented systematically discriminative towards the Arab minority within Israel's borders, including occupied territories.
At the same time, Cop City is a police training academy being built in Atlanta, which they believe will be used to train repressive forces against black people and then deployed across America during times of social unrest, hence demanding total divestment.
This clearly shows that these protests have deeper roots than just happening within university compounds and thus should not be easily dismissed as such.