More university leaders are considering police involvement in pro-Palestinian protests
Pro-Palestinian and Israeli Protesters in a Physical Altercation at the University of California, Los Angeles, Revisited
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators continue to turn out at schools across the country despite the risk of detention and suspension, with nearly 300 more protesters were arrested over the weekend.
On Sunday, pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israeli protesters clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, leading to what university leaders described as “physical altercations” and prompting them to increase security measures on campus.
Twelve protesters — including nine students — were arrested at the University of Mary Washington after refusing to vacate an encampment on its Fredericksburg, Va., campus. University President Troy Paino said in a statement that health and safety concerns had emerged on Saturday after protestors invited the off-campus public to join the encampment.
The NYPD had officers outside of the university but not on school grounds if the situation got out of hand. It did not specify the number of officers in the area.
Protests at George Washington University in D.C. are stretching into their fifth day on Monday — the last day of class for the semester — after a tense weekend, culminating in a clash between protesters and police.
Students set up a second campsite on H Street after University Yard was closed due to the school putting up barricades to restrict access.
The protesters flooded the lawn with barricades that had been piling in the middle of the lawn at 11:41 pm on Sunday, the GW Hatchet reports.
“This is an egregious violation of community trust and goes far beyond the boundaries of free expression and the right to protest,” they added. “The university will use every avenue available to ensure those involved are held accountable for their actions.”
A group of protesters were in the home of the graduate school at the Ivy League school. A person not affiliated with the university was arrested along with 13 other people. All those arrested received summonses for trespassing and have been barred from campus. The students will be held responsible for their actions, and may face suspension or expulsion from the university, according to the president of the school.
The students who did not leave the camp by the deadline will be suspended, it was announced by Columbia on Monday evening. After a day of protest and confusion, the measure reflected the difficult balance Columbia administrators are seeking to strike as they try to avoid bringing the Police Department back to arrest those in the encampment, but also commit to the stance that the protest must end.
On Sunday, Jay Bernhardt, the president of Emerson College in Boston — where more than 100 protesters were arrested at an encampment early Thursday morning — said the college will not bring disciplinary charges against protesters, and will “encourage the district attorney not to pursue charges related to encampment violations.”
He said it is taking steps to support students who have been arrested, such as posting bail and providing support to those who have to stay local after their dorm closes.
“The College has done its best to keep all community members safe every day during these challenging times, but we recognize that we must do more,” he added.
Students are allowed to leave campus encampments if they do not violate the Louisiana Department of Human Rights and Expression, a release from the University
In Texas, the district attorney dropped charges against 57 people who were arrested during a protest at the UT-Austin after a judge found there was not enough evidence to proceed.
Elsewhere, some schools are threatening disciplinary action for students who don’t comply with directives to leave encampments that they say violate their policies.
Alex Morey, the director of campus rights advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, says responses vary in part because individual colleges decide how to regulate speech on campus. They explain where students can post flyers and when the protests need to end. Those rules are allowable as long as they apply to all students, regardless of the cause, says Morey.
At Cal Poly Humboldt, officials closed campus to the public on Saturday, several days after student protesters first occupied two academic and administrative buildings. Protesters were given until 5 p.m. Friday to leave with a guarantee of no immediate arrest, but they still face consequences.
“This does not, however, eliminate University conduct-related sanctions or legal implications,” officials said in a release. “In addition, voluntarily departing in this way will be considered as a mitigating factor in University conduct processes and may reduce the severity of sanctions imposed.”
Work and classes will be remote through the end of the semester, with the campus closed until May 10. They are planning for various scenarios for the graduation.
The University of Pennsylvania’s encampment and disruption: a case study of anti-Semitic protests in Pennsylvania and the Palestine-Israel War
She said rules have been broken, and those who break them — “including rules around the time, place and manner of protest” — will face disciplinary action.
The University of Pennsylvania’s statue was vandalised with antisemitic graffiti and the officials want demonstrators from other area schools to stop.
A group of Penn faculty and Philadelphia-area elected officials signed a letter last week urging university leaders to “respect students’ rights to engage in nonviolent protest” by refraining from calling in law enforcement to make arrests and from filing disciplinary and criminal charges against peaceful protesters at the encampment.
“Threatening students with sanctions of this kind is unconscionable and should not be the means by which Yale responds to peaceful protest,” they added.
In a further sign of discontent, faculty members at universities in California, Georgia and Texas have either initiated or passed largely symbolic votes of no confidence in their leadership, according to the Associated Press.
The occupation of a building on Columbia University’s campus on early Tuesday marked an especially tense 24 hours of pro-Palestinian protests across the country, as police in California started arresting protesters that had taken over at least one other building and threatened to do so at others.
Protesters began climbing into open windows at John Jay Hall, a dormitory, and students entered Hamilton Hall, an academic building and began moving furniture to a balcony, reported WKCR, the university radio station.
University officials were not immediately available for comment. The public safety department was on top of things. If they were able, it urged the people to not come to the campus on Tuesday.
A notice was given out Monday warning the protesting students that the current unauthorized campsite and disruption on Columbia University’s campus is creating an unwelcoming environment.
“[Academic leaders and student organizers] in these discussions put forward robust and thoughtful offers and worked in good faith to reach common ground,” Columbia President Minouche Shafik said Monday. We would like them to know how much we appreciate their work, long hours and careful effort, and wish they had achieved a different outcome.
In regards to the war between Hamas and Israel, demonstrators are protesting in support of the Palestinians, and they are calling on Columbia to cut ties with Israeli companies.
Columbia said Monday it would not do that, but it did say the school’s Advisory Committee for Socially Responsible Investing will start reviewing new proposals from students. It will make a list of its investments available to students, as well as provide resources for health and education in Gaza.
Although the parties agreed that protests will be paused until after reading day and exams are over, they also disagreed on whether the class of 2024 will still have their high school graduation ceremonies in person.
After that, students will need to submit an application at least two days before having a protest, which will be held in designated areas, Shafik said.
Students’ Rights on Columbia: “It is Yours to be a good student, not mys,” Spokesman David Cole told the MIT News Service
But she added the encampment has caused an “unwelcoming environment” and “hostile environment” for Jewish students, and violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlaws discrimination at schools that receive federal funding.
“Antisemitic language and actions are unacceptable and calls for violence are simply abhorrent,” she said. A lot of Jewish students and other students have found the atmosphere intolerable in recent weeks. Many have left campus, and that is a tragedy. I want to make it clear that students and their families are valued members of the Columbia community. This is your campus too.”
Shafik, who has been under fire for her handling of the protests, said she is committed to keeping community members physically safe and shielding them from harassment and discrimination, while allowing them to freely speak, which must mean respecting others’ right to do so as well.
The school did not stop doing business with Israeli companies even though students had demanded that they do so. The school began to suspend students.
Protesters began marching around campus after midnight, chanting “free Palestine” and taking over Hamilton Hall at Columbia. Within 20 minutes, protesters had seized Hamilton, a 118-year-old building that has been at the center of campus protests dating back to the 1960s. A spokesman was not immediately available.
Columbia students occupied Hamilton Hall on April 30, 1968, to protest racism against Black people. More than 700 people were arrested and almost 150 people were injured.
For the second time in a week, police arrested dozens of demonstrators at the University of Texas at Austin protesting Israel’s war against Hamas. Protesters shouted for the police to leave because they were being violent.
The UT-Austin scene grew tense as state troopers and police used a chemical irritant to control the crowd. While some students dispersed, others were seen blocking police vans and resisting arrest. University officials said in a statement that the university took swift action to preserve a safe learning environment.
Yet other universities have taken a more hands off approach. MIT’s president is urging an end to the demonstration, which is peaceful though police are watching it, a MIT spokesperson told NPR.
David Cole, national legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, said colleges have to intervene if there is violence, but it’s an ” exercise in discretion.”
“If I were a college administrator and there was an encampment on my campus and it was not causing disruption, you may as well let it lie if you’re going to cause more disruption by removing it. If they want to do so, they have the right to do so.
Dan Mogulof is the Assistant Vice Chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley and he said that the policy is to avoid police involvement unless absolutely necessary.
Sometimes the reaction to an action is not in line with what you want. Law enforcement is an important resource, but it can also have unintended consequences,” he says.
The University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and Columbia University are advising the N.Y.P.D. to clear an encampment
Berkeley’s protests have been peaceful so far, says Mogulof. He stated that the school is committed to both free speech and safety at the university.
“There can be a tension between those objectives,” he says. “And the trick is to manage those inherent tensions, the right to freely express your perspective, but also the right to pursue your academic interests.”
“This agreement represents a sustainable and de-escalated path forward, and enhances the safety of all members of the Northwestern community while providing space for free expression that complies with University rules and policies,” university officials wrote in a statement.
According to a statement from Northeastern University, police arrested approximately 100 people on the campus after a campsite used antisemitic slurs and was “infiltrated by professional organizers with no affiliation” to the school.
“All of these factors left university leaders with no choice but to act, as they had nothing else to do”, Chancellor Ken Henderson and his colleague, David Madigan, wrote. Northeastern was confronted with an ‘untenable dilemma’ over the weekend.
Jewish students at several universities have reported feeling unsafe. A group of Jewish students at the University of Minnesota say they have seen “violent and hateful messages” on campus and no longer feel safe. Jewish student groups at other schools on Friday demanded that campus officials take stronger measures to ensure their safety.
Columbia University switched to hybrid classes at the end of the semester. The University of Michigan is enlisting volunteers to be part of “protest and disruptions response” teams to work during May commencement ceremonies, and the University of Southern California recently announced it is canceling its main commencement ceremony altogether.
It said that students would not be punished for their participation in the encampment if they signed a form promising not to break any university rules through the end of the next academic year. Students in the encampment who already faced discipline from previous violations may not be eligible for the same deal, the document stated.
“We called on N.Y.P.D. to clear an encampment once,” Nemat Shafik, Columbia’s president, wrote in a statement to the community last Friday co-signed by the co-chairs of Columbia’s board of trustees. We all share the opinion that returning the N.Y.P.D. at this time would be counter-productive and would add to the confusion on campus.
Palestine will live forever. Go away, yo. “Free, free Palestine.” “Free, free, free Palestine.” “Shut it down.” Palestine will be free. “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”
The Columbia Student Dispatch: “Free Gaza” and “Forbidden” Pro-Palestinian Detention at the Portland State University Campus
Protesters wearing helmets, safety glasses, gloves and masks barricaded the entrance to the building. People are inside stacked chairs and tables. A protester took a hammer to smash the glass part of a door. The protesters appeared to be in control of the building.
Tuesday promises to be another tense day at the Columbia campus in Manhattan, with students bracing for possible further action against the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus and administrators waiting to see if their decision to suspend demonstrators who remained at the site would blunt the protest.
Activists took over the library at Portland State University on Monday with slogans such as “Free Gaza,” and called for the university to cut ties with Boeing, which has supplied weaponry to Israel.
Bob Day, the chief of the Portland Police Bureau, estimated on Monday night that perhaps 50 to 75 protesters were inside the building. Officials urged protesters to leave the area and warned that those involved could face criminal charges.
Just outside, about a dozen faculty in yellow and orange safety vests also stayed behind, with several saying that they planned to remain overnight to make sure their students’ right to protest was respected.
“We have begun suspending students as part of the next phase of our efforts to ensure the safety of our campus,” Ben Chang, a spokesman for the university, said.
She said that the students wanted us to remain but that it was against their will to leave. “We do not abide by university pressures. We act according to the will of the students.
The Spanish professor at Columbia’s sister school, Elga Castro, was among the faculty and staff protecting access to the tents. “I have my opinions on Gaza and Palestine, but I am mainly here to protect my students,” she said.
