The Long Beach State Faculty Affairs department sent a faculty-wide email ahead of last week’s protest, reiterating the college’s policy on academic freedom and freedom of speech on campus.
An email from Faculty Affairs said faculty should refrain from offering extra credit for attending political rallies or marches for non-teaching purposes. It also prohibited faculty from canceling classes to encourage students to participate in protests or rallies.
Faculty should employ their academic freedom in the classroom to remain consistent with their academic responsibility, the email continued.
“Faculty are expected to fulfill their employment duties, including teaching classes at their assigned times and places, unless they have been approved for vacation or time off through normal campus processes,” the email said.
The email, however, did not explicitly mention the protest.
It was sent after the CSULB chapter of La F.U.E.R.Z.A. posted on their Instagram story that they have a template email for students to send to their professors urging them to cancel class and motivate students to join the protest.
Faculty for Justice in Palestine CSULB also posted on April 30, encouraging faculty to stand with students and join the protest.
It remains unclear whether this email is related to the planned protest or the Instagram posts. Faculty Affairs did not respond to our request for comment.
Students for Justice in Palestine posted on Instagram calling for a walkout on May 8 at 2 p.m. in the Central Quad.