Emerson College’s president announced on Tuesday that the school plans to lay off employees for the 2025 fiscal year in response to declining admissions caused in part by campus anti-Israel protests, according to the Boston Globe.
The college declared that the incoming class enrollment significantly declined, affecting the budget and causing staff layoffs. The budget cuts were due to several reasons, including Palestinian protesters disrupting campus tours and events, as well as negative press surrounding student protesters being arrested during their encampment earlier this year.
The student protesters set up the encampment and refused to leave until the college called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to stop contributing to companies that support Israel, according to CBS News Boston.
The encampment set up in April ended in 118 arrests, with police detaining protesters and students, later releasing them. The media attention surrounding the arrests forced the college to halt any admissions-related activities for two days, according to the Berkeley Beacon.
Emerson College President Jay Bernhardt sent a letter to faculty and staff informing them of the budget cuts and layoffs for the upcoming fiscal year.
“We attribute this reduction to multiple factors, including national enrollment trends away from smaller private institutions, an enrollment deposit delay in response to the new FAFSA rollout, student protests targeting our yield events and campus tours, and negative press and social media generated from the demonstrations and arrests,” Bernhardt said in the letter sent to faculty, which was posted to X.
Pro-Palestinian protests took place on college campuses across the county, causing disruptions and injuring police officers. In May, New York University (NYU) students were arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City. The New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested 133 individuals, over half of them being outside agitators.
Emerson College and Bernhardt did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
