A Boston liberal arts college has acknowledged that recent anti-Israel protests on campus will result in a drop in enrollment next year and may require cuts.
Emerson College President Jay Barnhart said in an internal message this week that “multiple factors” are contributing to the “significant” shortfall in freshman enrollment, including the protests and the publicity they have generated.
“We want to inform our community that the number of incoming freshmen entering the fall 2024 semester is significantly lower than our original expectations,” Barnhart said in a statement this week.
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Emerson College students supporting Palestinians sleep in tents at a camp set up in an alley off Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts on April 22, 2024. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)
“We believe this decline is due to multiple factors, including a national trend of declining enrollment (leaving students away from small private institutions), delays in paying application fees due to the implementation of the new FAFSA, student protests targeting our admissions events and campus tours, and negative publicity and social media following the demonstrations and arrests.”
Barnhart said the school will implement staff cuts and budget cuts to make up for the loss of revenue. 2024-25 school year The cost of the course is $55,200, with room and board costing more than $20,000.
“We will limit staff and faculty recruitment next year and carefully review our existing programs and offerings to make savings for the future,” the university said. “Finally, we will need to eliminate some staff positions, both vacant and filled, and in some cases some faculty positions.”
This spring, Emerson College saw a series of anti-Israel protests on campus, leading to clashes with Boston police and arrests.
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The university later announced that freshman enrollment was declining due to violent anti-Israel protests on campus. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)
At one demonstration in April, more than 100 protesters were arrested for refusing to leave a camp in a public area of the campus.
A police spokesman told Fox News Digital that several officers suffered minor injuries in the struggle to remove the agitators.
At that time, Bernhard Statement about Regarding the protests that led to the arrests, Emerson College said, “We recognize and respect the civic engagement and passion that sparked the protests at Boylston Place Alley in support of Palestine, and we share our concerns regarding the numerous code violations caused by their encampment. We also understand that the removal of the encampment has had a significant negative impact on our community.”
Emerson College’s Student Government Association condemned the president’s actions regarding these protests.
As a local NBC affiliate “He regularly sends out insensitive emails that not only fail to accurately present the facts, but also fail to show empathy and support for the students who have been traumatized and affected by these incidents,” Emerson College SGA president Nandan Nair said in a statement, according to the report.
Emerson did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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