On Wednesday The College Fix reported on University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann’s participation in a “die-in” when protesters crashed a holiday party at her home.
What President Gutmann probably didn’t count on is that the campus police assigned to the party weren’t too pleased with her lying down on the floor with some of the protesters.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:
Members of the Penn police force who were working at the party and witnessed Gutmann’s participation were “outraged,” said Eric Rohrback, president of the 116-member Penn police officers’ union.
“I am appalled that the president of this fine university would give in to the pressures of the uninformed mob mentality surrounding the Michael Brown case and participate in a ‘die-in’… ,” he wrote to The Inquirer. “It is a slap in the face to every person that wears this uniform and serves this university.”
Gutmann did not return a call for comment. Maureen S. Rush, Penn’s vice president for public safety and a former Philadelphia police officer, came to the president’s defense in an interview and a letter to her officers.
“I can assure you that her laying on the ground was not solidarity against police,” said Rush, who has led the department during Gutmann’s decade as president. “It was solidarity with students who are expressing their personal opinions. There’s not a doubt in my mind of Amy Gutmann’s loyalty and respect for law enforcement across the board and in particular the Penn police.”
Indeed, Rush said that the protesters “ambushed” Gutmann and claimed that she “was upset” at the turn of events.
The president of Penn State University faced a similar situation last week, The Inquirer notes, for doing a “hands up” stance with numerous black students in front of that school’s administration building.
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