Emerson College board backs president, students speak out at town hall on campus [Video]

Emerson College’s Board of Trustees said it has no plans to remove Jay Bernhardt from his post as the school’s president, despite growing student pressure on the board to do so, including from the student government association, which passed a resolution last week calling for Bernhardt’s resignation.

In a brief statement, the board said it selected Bernhardt, who only started as the college’s president last year, as a “transformational leader who could bring us together in difficult times.”

“The differences we may have today within Emerson are shades of a shared vision for civil dialogue, peaceful protest, and respect for human diversity,” the statement reads. “The board remains confident in President Bernhardt’s leadership and unequivocally supports his presidency.”

Tensions at the school have continued to grow since the arrest of 118 pro-Palestinian protesters on campus a week ago. A rally was planned Wednesday by the group Faculty and Staff for …