Private college that appeased anti-Israel protesters faces major enrollment decline — and layoffs could be coming

A private liberal arts school in Boston is blaming anti-Israel protests for a significant decline in new enrollment.

When anti-Israel protests erupted at Emerson College this spring, school administrators bent over backward for student protesters who violated laws and ended up in jail.

'... we will need to eliminate some staff positions, both vacant and filled, and potentially reduce some faculty positions.'

The college not only praised the "immense bravery" of student protesters but promised not to bring Emerson-related disciplinary charges against student protesters, encouraged the district attorney not to press criminal charges on Emerson student protesters, dispatched Emerson staff to post bail for students who were arrested, and provided protesters with student housing so they could stay in town for court appearances.

Now, school administrators are planning budget cuts and layoffs.

"The size of our projected incoming first-year class for Fall 2024 is significantly below what we had hoped," said Emerson College president Jay Bernhardt in a letter this week.

Bernhardt said the enrollment drop requires "immediate spending reductions" — including potential faculty layoffs.

"We will limit our staff and faculty searches next year and carefully review existing programs and offerings for future savings," he said. "Finally, we will need to eliminate some staff positions, both vacant and filled, and potentially reduce some faculty positions."

The anti-Israel protests, Bernhardt admitted, are partially responsible for the enrollment decline.

He explained:

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.

While Beyond Bernhardt admitted to a "significantly" lower enrollment, it's not clear just how bad the figure is. The college's most recent data said that 1,002 first-time students were enrolled for the Fall 2022 school year.

Tuition at Emerson College costs more than $50,000 per year.

At least one Emerson staffer is already claiming the school's announcement is really an attempt to silence pro-Palestinian voices.

"It doesn’t make any sense," Illona Yosefov, an instructional technologist and member of Emerson's Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, told the Boston Globe.

"It feels like exploiting the situation to do whatever you want. It also feels like a way to quiet dissent, to scare people into compliance," she added. "I wonder if [Bernhardt is] trying to signal to all of them to behave come fall, or else."

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