A growing movement across college campuses is seeking to compel schools to cut financial ties with Israel, leading to protests, encampments, police intervention and claims of antisemitism.
The heavy response from police has raised concerns about free speech at universities.
Last week, over 100 protesters were arrested at Columbia University in New York. The students are continuing to call for the Ivy League school to cut ties with companies involved with the Israeli military or the country itself. Despite the arrests, students remain encamped at the university, leading the school to switch to virtual learning. A large number of counter protesters have taken up outside Columbia, many waving Israeli flags. Meanwhile, the school’s president has faced backlash from faculty for calling in the police to arrest students and for suspending protest groups.
Some Jewish students have claimed the protests have veered into antisemitism and are afraid to return to school, according to reporting from the Associated Press and CNN.
“We are afraid to attend classes, feel threatened on campus and fear that some faculty and staff may subject us to discriminatory treatment,” the students wrote to Columbia officials in a letter obtained by CNN. “Since October 7th, our campus has transformed into a hostile place; over the past few days, it has become an environment we dread.”
Law enforcement was called in to crack down on more protests at colleges across the U.S. throughout the week. On Wednesday, Texas state troopers were filmed tackling students on the campus’ south lawn. According to reports, the organizers of the protest received a letter from the school the night before demanding they cancel or face possible arrests. Fifty-seven protesters would be arrested, although charges for 46 were dropped by Thursday afternoon.
At the University of Southern California, the May 10 graduation ceremony was canceled outright not long after the cancellation of a commencement speech by the pro-Palestinian valedictorian. Nearly 100 people were arrested Wednesday night. The school later announced anyone on campus after Friday, the last day of classes, would be arrested.
“Lest you mistake silence for approval, I want you to hear that you are failing the University,” Mike Ananny, Ph.D., an associate professor of Communications and Journalism at the school wrote in an open letter that appears in the student publication Daily Trojan.
Hundreds of protesters, mostly students, have been arrested this week while encampments have continued to pop up at more campuses. The Ohio State University, Indiana University and the University of Minnesota are among the many schools to see students in handcuffs.
Late last month, three students were charged with assaulting a security guard at Vanderbilt University after they reportedly ran over the guard while entering the administration building to protest. A Nashville reporter was also arrested for trespassing at the school despite showing his press credentials.
“It’s alarming that Vanderbilt University, with so many eyes on them over these student protests, would arrest a reporter in the process of trying to do his job,” Nashville Scene editor-in-chief Patrick Rodgers told the Nashville Banner following his reporter’s arrest. Davidson County’s district attorney quickly released a statement that the office would not prosecute a reporter doing their job.
Friday afternoon, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to college and university presidents in response to the crackdown on protests.
“As you fashion responses to the activism of your students (and faculty and staff), it is essential that you not sacrifice principles of academic freedom and free speech that are core to the educational mission of your respected institution,” states the open letter.
