University protests: pro-Palestinian demonstrators retake MIT encampment – The Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago on Tuesday after administrators who initially took a permissive approach said the protest crossed a line and sparked growing concerns about Security.

University President Paul Alivisatos acknowledged the school’s role as a protector of free speech after police in riot gear blocked access to the school’s Quad, but he also took an “enough” stance.

“The university remains a place where dissenting voices have many avenues to express themselves, but we cannot allow an environment in which the expression of some dominates and disrupts the smooth functioning of the community for the rest,” he said. writes Alivisatos in a message to the university community. .

Tensions continued to escalate during clashes with protesters on campuses across the United States – and more and more, in Europe — almost three weeks in a movement started by a protest at Columbia University. Some colleges immediately suppressed protests against the Israel-Hamas War. Among those who tolerated the tent encampments, some began to lose patience and called the police due to concerns about disruptions to campus life, security, and the involvement of non-students.

Since April 18, just over 2,600 people have been arrested on 50 campuses, figures based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement.

But not all schools are taking this approach, with some letting protesters hold rallies and organize their encampments as they see fit.

The president of Wesleyan University, a liberal arts school in Connecticut, hailed the campus protest — which includes a pro-Palestinian tent encampment — as an act of political expression. The camp has grown from around 20 tents a week ago to more than 100.

“The protesters’ cause is important: to call attention to the killing of innocent people,” university President Michael Roth wrote to the campus community on Thursday. “And we continue to provide space for them to do so, as long as that space does not disrupt campus operations.”

The Rhode Island School of Design, where students began occupying a building Monday, affirms students’ rights to free speech and peaceful assembly and supports all members of the community, a spokesperson said . The school said President Crystal Williams spent more than five hours with protesters that evening discussing their demands.

On Tuesday, the school announced it was moving classes that were scheduled to take place in the building. It was covered with posters reading “Free Palestine” and “Let Gaza Live,” and a dove was drawn in colored chalk on the sidewalk.

Campuses have tried tactics ranging from appeasement to threats of disciplinary action to resolve protests and open the way to beginnings.

At the University of Chicago, hundreds of protesters gathered for at least eight days until administrators warned them Friday to leave or face expulsion. On Tuesday, the police dismantled the encampment.

Officers later picked up a barricade erected to prevent protesters from entering the Quad and moved it toward the demonstrators, some of whom chanted, “Up, up with liberation.” Down with occupation! Police and protesters moved along the barricade as officers moved to reestablish control.

Officials at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill told deans and department chairs Monday that some students were told by instructors opposed to the suspension of student protesters that they would withhold their grades.

The school’s provost’s office said it would support “sanctions against any instructor who improperly withheld grades.”

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, protesters were given a deadline to voluntarily leave the premises or face suspension. Many left, according to an MIT spokesperson, who said protesters breached the fence after demonstrators from outside the university arrived. Monday evening, dozens stayed at camp in a calmer atmosphere.

MIT officials said the next day that dozens of interim suspensions and referrals to disciplinary committees were being made, steps taken to ensure the “safety of our community.”

Sam Ihns, a graduate student in mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said the group has been there for two weeks and is calling for an end to the killings in Gaza.

“Specifically, our camp is protesting the direct research ties between MIT and the Israeli Ministry of Defense,” he said.

Many protesters want schools to divest from companies that do business with Israel or contribute to the war effort. Others simply want to draw attention to the deaths in Gaza and call for an end to the war.

Uday Narayanan, a senior at Wesleyan, said students are prepared to protest throughout the summer if that’s what it takes to get their demands met.

“Our tuition fees are still used to brutalize Palestinians,” said the 21-year-old physics student. “So ultimately, even though our president said, ‘Oh, I’m not going to call the cops.’ Oh, I’m not going to beat up the students, it’s still not enough and it’s not the bare minimum for us.

And as Wesleyan begins the school year on May 26, some protesters fear being forcibly removed from the center of campus, next to the field where the ceremony is to take place.

“The longer we stay here, the more their laid-back, hands-off facade disappears,” said Batya Kline, a 22-year-old graduate student. “We know the university doesn’t want us here, and we know they can change pace in the blink of an eye without letting us know.

Frank Straub, senior director of violence prevention at the nonprofit Safe and Sound Schools, said these and previous protests showed the need for early dialogue between the university, police and protesters to establish ground rules.

Straub said Wesleyan, for example, needs to have conversations about when and where protesters may be located, and needs to make sure a plan is in place to respond, if protesters want to be arrested, so that it can be done without violence.

“Protests by their nature are contradictory, but I think we can control adversity,” he added. “And I think the more campus leaders engage with protesters and the more police are involved in those conversations, that’s critically important.”

The protests follow the conflict that began on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostages.

Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its residents.

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LeBlanc reported from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Associated Press journalists from around the United States and around the world contributed, including Jeff Amy, Christopher Weber, Mike Corder, Barbara Surk, Rick Callahan, Sarah Brumfield and Pietro de Cristofaro.